


Living Life to the Fullest

by BFWrites



Category: No Fandom
Genre: Agender Character, Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Awkward Boners, Bathing/Washing, Belly Rubs, Body Dysphoria, Body Horror, Bruises, Bubbles - Freeform, Bugs & Insects, Cats, Crushing, Cuddling & Snuggling, Female Friendship, Fishing, Hand Jobs, Hurt/Comfort, Inflation, Injury, Injury Recovery, Nonbinary Character, Other, Physics, Power Tools, Scratching, belly inflation, existential dilemmas vis a vis being a human water balloon, if someone can explain why i wrote a continuation of 1 chapter of someone else's AO3 story go nuts, water inflation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:40:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 87,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26332048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BFWrites/pseuds/BFWrites
Summary: After pumping a pool full of water into her belly, Jordan and her friend Flora attempt to navigate the challenges, opportunities, and justifications that come with such an act.Updated to Explicit on account of Chapter 15 and later...
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	1. A Bitch of an Itch

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Science and Other Pursuits](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24409552) by [Zumberge](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zumberge/pseuds/Zumberge). 



> This is an idea I literally could not get out of my head after reading Zumberge's Science and Other Pursuits (https://archiveofourown.org/works/24409552/chapters/58885384). This directly follows the first chapter, though the same characters are in the other chapters. There's only continuity to the first chapter, though depending on what you're hoping to get out of this, you're probably fine reading this before or after that. I still highly suggest it since, you know, it caused me to write this. I take no credit for the characters of Flora or Jordan. 
> 
> If you have any other suggestions, please leave a comment.
> 
> Also, if anyone would care to explain why an ace person would write a story in a genre that's largely sexualized with sex scenes in it, feel free!

Flora gradually awoke to the afternoon sun faintly seeping through her still-shut eyelids. As her mind returned from her carefree hours of sleep, she became aware of birdsong and the sound of locusts: an alarm clock she certainly wasn't used to hearing. Fully opening her eyes, she saw the clear summer sky, which gave her pause. Had she really fallen asleep outside?

As her senses more fully returned, she realized what must've woken her up. Her as-yet-unknown makeshift bed was shaking. Finally deciding to investigate the situation, she turned her head to see quite the sight.

For starters, she was apparently lying atop her friend, Jordan. Not that this was a unique occurrence, but it was more apt to happen during their more experimental college years. What was unique was Jordan was currently a 9-foot tall, 15-foot wide mound of water, loosely contained in her own skin. More precisely, her belly held the water with the rest of her body sat on the top like a significantly more talkative zit. Flora had assumed her memories of her roommate downing their pool had been a dream brought on by hard work and stress, but it would seem her dream was reality. 

Quickly, Flora determined the source of the rhythmic shaking that had woken her. Jordan's left leg was stretched as far as it would go, big toe pointed down and furiously scratching along her enormous belly. If Flora had been able to see her friend's face, she would have seen a scrunched, annoyed expression gracing it. After a few moments more of dragging her toe along her stomach, she began to pull her skin from as far back as she could reach toward her core, all while still reaching her toe like a horizontal ballerina. 

At first, Flora considered immediately asking Jordan the most pertinent question on her mind: namely, "what the fuck?" However, she opted for silence. After destroying their pool and a $10 lawn chair, she figured she could let whatever so clearly aggravated her friend continue for at least a bit longer. Finally, after perhaps another minute of waiting, she grew bored. "Is there a problem?"

Jordan lurched atop her belly, causing a short-lived reverberation of water to jostle her skin like a freshly-tossed water balloon. She quickly turned her head toward Flora with a look like she'd been caught doing something unspeakable. "Flora! You're up! P-problem? No problems here. Just- you know, relaxing!" At this, she laid back down upon herself, an obviously fake smile plastered on her face. 

Just as she was about to brush off Jordan's bizarre behavior, a sudden movement flickered in the corner of her eye. Flora looked to her left, trying to spot it. "Did you see something just now?" 

"See what?" said Jordan, still clearly not as relaxed as she pretended to be.

This time, Flora saw the movement perfectly: a bit of her friend's belly skin, as wide as a dinner plate, twitched. For a split second, Flora considered the possibility that her roommate was host to an alien lifeform, but she assumed Jordan was candid enough with her proclivities to tell her if she decided to single-handedly usher little green men into the world. She side-eyed Jordan. "Look, you don't look like you're in a position to do much of anything, so just tell me what fresh hell this is."

Jordan pouted. "Nothing gets by you, huh? Fine. I'm itchy."

A beat. "You're itchy?"

Another shiver in the same quadrant of skin and Jordan grimaced once more. "Y-yes, I'm itchy!"

Flora stood up on her friend, her bare feet sinking an inch or two into the jiggling mass that was her friend. She walked the 5 feet over to the quivering bit of her friend. A smirk gradually grew on her face. "So, why don't you scratch it?"

Jordan was exasperated at this point. "What do you think I was doing? Calisthenics?" At this, she resumed her futile attempts at poking the area with her toe. "I- can't- reach it!" 

"Hmm...," Flora frowned. "Well, what were you doing right before I woke up?"

"See, I figured I might be able to move the skin up to where I could get at it with my toe." Here, she tried just that once again. "But- there's not a lot of- give."

"Yeah, a few thousand gallons of water will do that."

Jordan stopped her pointless pulling and looked up to Flora. "Ha. Ha. Well, what're you waiting for?"

Flora tilted her head. "Waiting for?"

The bothersome skin patch jiggled again with renewed vigor, as if sensing it was being ignored. "Help a girl out!" Jordan pointed at the patch as she stifled a wince.

Jordan stared down at the skin before her feet. "What's in it for me?"

Flora facepalmed against her titanic belly. "What's in it for you? Who pays half the mortgage? Who do you think you just napped on?"

"Who destroyed our pool?"

Jordan looked up and back to her friend in defeat. "It's all good. I've been saving up a bit and I just got a bonus at work. You'll be swimming again in no t-"

The spot twitched several times in succession, seemingly growing by an inch or so each time. "Flora, I'll d-do the dishes for a month! I'll write up your expense reports! I'll be your h-human mattress! Just scratch the damn spot!"

Flora's smirk evolved to full-on grin. "Say the magic word."

"P-please?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

Bending down, Flora used her nails to gently scratch at the quivering bit of flesh. She hadn't thought much about the reality of scratching her friend's belly like she was a massive dog when she had been lording it over her, but now that she was doing the deed, she felt more than a little skeevy. Then, she looked up.

Jordan did resemble a dog, lightly kicking her leg against her mass in sweet relief. As obscene an image as it was, Flora couldn't help but feel happy to help her roommate with something she physically couldn't do. Of course, she got herself into this mess in the first place, but emotions are tricky sons of bitches. After a minute or so of scratching, the area finally stopped convulsing. Not that Flora noticed, as she was mesmerized by the look of bliss on her friend's face.

A couple minutes more, however, and Flora's daze faded away. "Ahem!" 

Jordan blinked. "Yeah?"

Flora, still scratching, replied, "You good?"

Jordan looked puzzled for a moment. "Oh! Yeah, sorry! All good.... Thanks!"

At this, Flora ceased her scratching and lazily fell back the few inches onto her butt, sending a gentle wave of flesh to wiggle around roughly a quarter of Jordan's bulk before fading. "So... what now?"


	2. Bottled Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan considers the consequences of being a giant sack of water and learns a perk of her pumped-up form.

"What do you mean 'what now?"

"I mean, what are you going to do with all of this?" Flora lightly slapped her friend's bulbous belly.

Jordan looked at her like she had two heads. "I'm going to relax.... What do you think I've been doing?"

Flora sighed. "Yes, yes, you're a master of relaxation. But I'm not sure you thought this through."

"I don't exactly have any big events planned."

"I'm not even talking big events. How are you going to eat, sleep, shower, go to the bathroom, like this?"

At this, Jordan stroked her chin a moment in contemplation. "You have that ladder, so you can serve as my butler. Or I'm sure I could tell the DoorDash drivers to just toss the chimichangas up onto me. Sleeping's not a problem as you can attest to my being a perfectly serviceable water bed. For the shower, we have a hose. And for the bathroom... um...."

Knowing she'd hit paydirt, Flora tilted her head, her smirk returning in full force. Jordan, however, wasn't phased. "Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"I don't think you're crossing any bridges anytime soon. Maybe you could serve as one! Just plop this bad boy down in a river." Flora poked her friend's giant side with some force, still only managing to reach her second knuckle.

"Very funny. Regardless, I'm fine. Right. Where. I. Am." Jordan punctuated each word with a gentle shake of her body, causing it to jostle a few inches left and right atop her bulk. 

Flora, still not convinced of her friend's logic or sanity, had to prod. "I have to ask, what's the appeal?"

"The appeal of what?"

"This!" Flora gestured widely at her roommate's newfound circumference. "Why swallow an entire pool?"

This seemed to stump Jordan for a moment. "Well..., I guess I just like being cool."

"You know, we have some popsicles in the freezer."

"Maybe later. But yeah, I enjoy the coolness of the water and... I don't know. I like the feeling of it sloshing in my stomach. Like I'm my own ocean."

Flora still wasn't buying it. "And we're 30 minutes away from the shore. Plus, you know, we have- I mean, had a pool."

Jordan looked down to her mass. "Well..., maybe I just like *mumble mumble*"

"I'm sorry, what?"

Jordan sighed, looking up to her closest friend. "I said maybe I just like being... round."

"Oh," Flora quietly replied, trying to decide whether she was in awe of this great revelation or confused by it. "I mean, I guess everyone has to have goal-"

"It's just the perfection of it!" Jordan exclaimed, laying her hand on her belly with all the reverence of petting a prize-winning stallion. "The idea that I can be this smooth, sleek... thing! No one expects a great mound like this to adhere to some standard of beauty or size or proportion. It just is! It's like a work of art. When you look at a marble statue, you appreciate how smooth it is. How rounded the features are. I've worked on my... my masterpiece. With some help from you of course."

Flora said nothing for a few moments, trying to process the absurd yet profound logic her friend had just dumped on her. "Jordan, I'm not gonna say I understand... this. All of this. But I'm glad you've found something you enjoy. You've seemed lately like you didn't have much... direction or motivation. Maybe this will lead to... new opportunities?"

"You're still confused, huh?"

"Extremely." Flora giggled, which quickly grew into a full-blown uncontrollable laugh. Perhaps it was a result of the long day she'd had or the fact she was curled up laughing on a huge bag of skin she called her best friend, but her laugh continued for some time, said skin-bag eventually joining in. From the ground, one could see gentle undulations of flesh like a wiggling bowl of Jello ripple around Flora's form as their laughter continued. 

As her laughter subsided, Flora thought she heard something come from her resting place. "Wait- did you hear that?"

Jordan made a valiant effort to quell her laughing. "Us being a couple of morons? Yes."

Flora frowned. "No, I'm serious. You made a noise." At this, she placed her ear to her friend's surface.

She heard more or less what she expected; of course, not the typical sounds of a human stomach. A slight wooshing noise was a constant inside Jordan, likely caused by the pool water's gradual deceleration after being so forcefully pumped into its new host. But after a few seconds, Flora heard it again, though much louder this time.

*POP*

It wasn't deafening, but it still shocked Flora, especially since she'd been able to hear it before without her ear right against Jordan's side and amid their laughter. "You're popping."

"WHAT? Shit- we have"

"No! No, not that kind of popping." *POP* "I mean, you're making a popping sound."

Jordan turned back toward her front, a quizzical look on her face. "Keep your ear peeled. I have a theory."

Flora returned to her listening post and Jordan gave a few light taps to the front half of her swollen body. Once again, a series of twitches streaked up Jordan's form from the site of her last tap in a beeline to nearly her left breast. "Ooh! That tickles! That's it then."

Flora looked up. "What's it? I didn't hear any more pops."

Jordan turned back to her friend, though she clearly still wanted to investigate her front. "See, when I was filling up before you got here, it was just the power of suction getting the water into me. There was just water and maybe a little bit of air I happened to swallow. But when you got that pool pump working on me, it works with air. So while most of me is water, a fair amount of air got in, too."

"But you burped right when I came out here."

"That I did. And quite a bit before I called you out, too. I was actually more of a sphere when the water stopped. Most of the air floated to the top. Part of me wanted to hold it in & sit 15 feet above the world-"

"Fifteen feet? You're more like 9, tops."

"Would you let me finish? I said I was that high up, but when I decided to be more water, I burped it all out."

Flora looked up as she tried to envision the insane scenario presented by her friend. "You're telling me you shrank 6 feet from burping?"

Jordan patted her belly like it was a very good dog. "Yes, siree! You saw how fast that pump was going! It only took me 30 minutes to go from 160 pounds to... well, this! All through a garden hose. All that water had to be propelled somehow."

"That still doesn't explain the popping noises and... whatever the hell that twitching was."

Jordan smiled, turning back to face forward. "That, my friend, was the rest of the air." At this, she gave a particularly hearty slap to her belly, reaching almost 1 foot away from the curved edge of her form. Once more, a small, steady ripple of shivering coursed down Jordan's skin, this time ending a few feet from Flora's ear.

"I heard that one." Flora looked up at her roommate with her head tilted. "Why is there still any air in you, though?"

"Well, my theory is most of the air came together and went out when I burped, but some of it clung to my sides in little bubbles."

"Sort of like a water bottle when you open it, close it, and leave it out for a while?"

"Precisely!" exclaimed Jordan, once more smacking her front to dislodge another delightfully ticklish bubble from her insides. She squinted a little, attempting to hide her mirth. "When I get a tap or move too much, a bubble comes loose and moves the only way it can: up. That means it skirts along my belly and pops."

Flora was still puzzled. "But if they pop, that means there's a bigger air pocket in you somewhere. Plus, that first time you tapped yourself, I didn't hear anything."

Jordan frowned slightly, looking away from Flora. "There... there is. I'm honestly surprised you didn't notice it before."

"Sorry?" Flora wasn't quite sure if she should be sorry she didn't notice what her friend considered an obvious feature of her new form. "Where is it?"

Jordan nodded her head back. "Back there. It's... well, I'm not great at estimating considering how big I am, but it's not too far behind my legs."

Flora scanned Jordan's form for the offending area. She spotted it after a minute or so. A foot past Jordan's feet was a slightly raised patch of skin. It was an inch or two thick, tapered toward the edges, and as wide as a washing machine. "Oh. Wait, if you can't turn that far around to see it, how do you know that's where it is?"

Again, Jordan looked slightly offended, if not simultaneously embarrassed. "I know my own body, Flora. If you have to take a shit, you know it's there. You can't see it, but you feel it."

"I guess you're right. Sorry." Flora stood on wobbly legs atop her friend and walked the couple of feet over to the area, lightly poking it with her foot. "Why are you acting all weird about it?"

Jordan sighed. "It's probably stupid. I mean, you said yourself you don't really get this whole... thing of mine anyway, so-"

"I want to though. It's important to you. So it's important to me." 

Jordan looked as far toward her friend as her neck allowed and smiled. "Thanks. Like I said, I want to be round, but... it's more than being round. If it were just that, I'd still be a 15 foot sphere of water and air. Air doesn't have any substance to it. It's just everywhere. But water is... cool and refreshing and dense. I want to be dense."

Flora somehow managed to suppress the urge to inform her friend this whole exercise proved she was dense. "And this little... area isn't dense?"

"Exactly. It's... a blemish. I mean, don't get me wrong: this-" Jordan smacked her side to unleash another bubble to creep inside her. "Is heavenly, but once I've cleaned off my sides, I'll still have that unsightly blob on me, but even bigger. That empty space, making me not as smooth as I should be."

For a second time this afternoon, Flora wasn't sure how such inane yammerings almost brought her to tears, but she knew her friend needed help. "I'll do what I can. But, that still doesn't explain why I didn't hear a pop after you first tried to smack yourself."

"Hmm.... Either it was an especially small bubble, though I doubt it given it felt just as immaculate as the others, or it didn't have enough momentum to reach my... patch."

"Your patch?"

"The air pocket. I stopped feeling the bubble right about near my tit, so I'm guessing gravity wouldn't let it sink back below my chest, so it just stayed there. You know, maybe if I-"

Jordan quickly turned her main body as far right as she could, exposing the bizarre way her belly connected somewhat loosely to the rest of her body. The expanse of her belly previously occupied by her chest soon rose to the height of her belly. A shiver streaked down the short way to the patch, and a contented hum escaped Jordan's lips as she languidly returned her body to a more leisurely position atop her stomach. "I could do this all day."

"Hold your horses. We need a game plan here. You want the air pocket gone, but you also presumably want to free up those bubbles, right?"

Jordan bopped her front once again, though her frown and the subsequent lack of twitching indicated that space was all water. She opted to smack another nearby area and was rewarded with another tickle along her top, once again ending near her main body. As she tilted up to release it on its merry way to the patch, she replied, "Right. But... I don't see how. I mean, like I said, I burped. A lot. And as big as that patch is, I don't need to burp."

Flora shook her head. "First things first. If we get rid of the air pocket, then tap your sides to Kingdom come, you'll just have a whole 'nother patch to deal with. I propose we-"

At this, Flora jumped back a foot on her friend's gravid form. She stared in awe as she followed the twitching from her feet to the aforementioned patch. "-get rid of the bubbles first, then handle Big Daddy Bubble."

Jordan rolled her eyes. "As long as you don't call that... thing that name ever again, you've got yourself a deal. Now, if you'd be so kind as t-"

Jordan's eyes about bugged out of her head as she curled in on herself as much as possible in her rotund state. Flora crossed the jiggling mass as quickly as she could to her friend's side. Out of the corner of her eye, she could tell her roommate's left side, the one facing away from the house, was twitching up a storm. "Jordan! What is it? What's wrong?!"

"There- there's something on m-me! It's n-not a bubble! I don't know wh.. what- get it off me, Flora!"

Flora hopped up, promptly fell the short distance onto her friend's bulk due to its squishiness, and got right back up to amble to the edge of her gargantuan frame. She looked down the 9 foot drop to see a spasming section of her side. At first, nothing appeared out of the ordinary, besides its enormity, though the twitching made it hard to see. "Stop twitching, Jordan! I can't see it when you do that."

"I-I'm trying! It's on me! Please get it off!"

As the shivering only slightly subsided, Flora spied the source of her friend's distress. "Got some bad news, Jordan."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger!
> 
> (In that Flora is hanging off the cliff that is Jordan's huge-ass belly.)


	3. Pests

"B-Bad news? Oh, fuck, I'm gonna d-die, aren't I?"

"Well, science has yet to conquer the specter of death, so yes, but not right now. You've just got a visitor."

Jordan was none too pleased with Flora's way with words. "Visitor? Just tell me what the hell's on my belly!"

"Hmm," Flora murmured, peeking over the edge of her friend as far as she could without plummeting to the earth. "It's hard to identify the exact species from this high up, but in layman's terms, you've got a bug."

Jordan's face, body, and roughly one-third of her belly paled at the word. "A b-b-bug? EWW!! Flora, get it off of me!"

While not as concerned as her twitching friend now that the culprit was identified, Flora still wanted to help her roommate. After all, considering her prior nap, this officially qualified as a bed bug. Her options for descending Jordan's peak were limited. The ladder was sitting where she'd kicked it after her ascent with no way to hoist it back up. While a 9 foot drop to the grass below wouldn't kill her, it certainly wasn't ideal. Just when she thought she'd have to risk it, Flora spotted her savior: the trampoline.

It sat perhaps 8 feet away from the closest quadrant of her gigantic roommate. It certainly wasn't a jump Flora wanted to make, and she was regretting not following through on those gymnastics classes when she was child, but she figured it was this or a broken ankle. Flora walked as far back on Jordan's belly as she could, lining herself up with the trampoline. After a moment to focus and a quick question of intent from her friend, Flora ran down the skin-covered runway and jumped where it tapered off toward the ground. With much less grace than she'd hoped, but more intact bones than she'd feared, Flora made a safe landing on the trampoline. 

From the corner of her eye, Flora saw only Jordan's eyes, huge as saucers, and her eyebrows, turned in confusion. "Be there in a sec!" Flora yelled.

Dismounting the trampoline, Flora rushed back to her friend's mammoth, quivering side. From this angle, she could clearly see the bug was an ant. A rather large, red ant. It was perched 2 feet up Jordan's form, scuttling around it at a leisurely pace, apparently unphased by its occupant's twitching. "Hmm, if I'm not mistaken, this is an ant."

From the ground, Jordan's voice was somewhat muted, but the guttural sound of her displeasure at being host to an ant was quite clear. "Disgusting! Get it off! Kill it!"

Admittedly, pacifist that she was, Flora would normally have gathered a leaf, nudged the ant onto it, and deposited it somewhere safe. In the moment, however, after the adrenaline rush of jumping several feet down to a trampoline and filling her roommate with an impossible quantity of water, there was really only one solution. Flora delivered a swift kick to the ant and, subsequently, Jordan's belly.

Over the next several seconds, Flora was treated to a sensory symphony. For starters, her kick imparted a shockwave of water through Jordan's bulk, spreading along her skin in an ever-growing circle from the point of impact to the rest of her. Like a drop of water in a small glass, the waves rebounded upon each other for several more seconds. As the skin took the kinetic energy of the kick, it shed most of the bubbles resting on its side. Where several of them had already coalesced into a larger bubble along the bottom of the belly, this massive air pocket also dislodged due to the motion of Jordan's ocean, filling the surrounding area with a sound that could only be described as *BLOOP*, much like a water cooler suddenly releasing a burble toward its air-filled top. Finally, there came the sound of Jordan's reaction to the feeling of a kick compounded with several bubbles deliciously flying up and along the inside of her form. It was a shout of anger that quickly crescendoed into something much more pleasurable. 

Flora quickly realized this may not have been the best course of action. "Oh! I'm sorry! I just wanted to get it off. Are you OK?" She delivered a comforting pat to her Jordan's side, causing a much more gentle jiggle to her friend.

"Y-yes, I'm fine. Thanks for getting rid of it. I just... Wow!" As if delayed by the contradictory nature of the kick, Jordan's belly issued a single, great shiver in celebration of the tremendous feeling the bubbles delivered. Then, reality set in. "Wait... are there- are there bug guts on me?"

Looking down, Flora confirmed the bad news, but frowned for another reason entirely. "You can feel an ant on you when you're 15 feet wide, but you can't tell a bug's smeared on you?"

"I just- it- OK, first off, you're disgusting! Get that ant gunk off me or I will tan your hide to next Tuesday!"

Flora walked around to the side of the house to grab the hose, namely the one still attached to the spigot instead of the now-empty pool. "Of course, of course.... And second off?"

"Second off, that ant was moving around. I have nerves obviously. Maybe even more nerves since there's more... me now."

"I don't think that's how it works."

"Flora, I'm full of thousands of gallons of water. Physics left town a while ago and biology is shitting its pants."

Flora finished walking over to her friend's side with the hose. "I mean you're not wrong."

The hose attachment being set to Full made quick work of the remains of the ant. As Flora stopped the hose, she noticed a slight jiggle originating from the top of her roommate's form. A second after she stopped, the jiggling finished. "Would you prefer a quick rinse? I should really charge for this."

Jordan giggled. "No, no, I'm fine. You've satisfied me enough for today. Though... now that you're down there... no, I shouldn't."

"I shouldn't what?"

"It's-it's nothing. Forget I mentioned it."

Flora prodded, literally. "Knowing you and how this behemoth came about, it's not nothing. Come on, I'm the reason you had any air in your otherwise perfect form. The least I can do is help you achieve your dream."

If Flora had been able to see Jordan's face from right beside her, she would have seen a smile, followed by a grimace. "Thanks.... Well, you know how I mentioned I crushed the pool chair?"

"Yeah."

"... What do you mean 'yeah?' I said I crushed the pool chair."

"And?"

"And where do you think the remains of said pool chair are right now?"

Flora stared directly at her friend's mass for a few seconds, trying to parse out what Jordan possibly meant. Just when she was about to give up, she spotted a glint of metal from the back, left corner of her roommate's huge side. "Oh, shit! Does that hurt?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, not really. I mean, it feels a little... odd, I guess. The rest of me's on nice, soft grass, but the metal and plastic don't feel especially comfy. But my main reason for wanting it out is my... goal, as you said."

Flora feared she'd never see an end to the things that confused her today. "What does laying on a pool chair have to do with your goal to be... how did you put it? 'Dense'?"

"Not the dense part. Pay attention. It's not like I just want to be full of water. I mean, that's a major part of it, but all the aspects come together, really. And one of those aspects is being smooth. Like a pebble or an egg or-"

"Jordan, I know what 'smooth' means. But again, you look pretty damn smooth," she said, rubbing her friend's side, eliciting the gentlest shiver yet. "Where does the pool chair fit into this?"

"Well, I guess I just notice these things more being that it's, well, my body, but just like the air pocket, you must've failed to notice the bump toward the back of me."

"Plenty of men have noticed the bump on the back of you."

"As hilarious as that is, please pay attention. Not long after I got rid of most of the air and settled into this beauteous shape, I noticed two things: the air pocket and a bump. After determining what the air pocket was, I thought the bump must just be another one. But then I closed my eyes and tried to picture where everything I'm feeling is in relation to my body and I deduced two more things. One: I'm laying on top of the broken pool chair. And two: right above the pool chair is the bump."

Flora started a slow clap. "Brilliant deduction, Sherlock. Only problem is, you chunky."

Jordan was none to pleased. "I beg your pardon! I am not chunky. This-" she grabbed her belly and shook it with all her might, causing jiggles down to the height of Flora's head, "doesn't have a single chunk to be found! It's 100% H2O!"

"Minus maybe 15% air."

"Damn you, but... you're right. Anyway, where do you get off calling me chunky?"

"I only mean you weigh... what, several thousand pounds? More than I can hope to lift. And that chair is pretty much entirely under you." Flora bent down to the small bit of metal exposed from under the colossal belly. She gave it a tentative tug, accomplishing nothing. "How am I gonna get it out?"

"Look, you're not lifting all of me. Just a tiny little bit right near the corner. You use 1 hand to hoist that bit of me up, the other to yank, and I'll be bump-free in no time."

Flora just wanted to clamber atop her friend again and take a much deserved second nap, but duty called. "Fine, I'll give it a shot, but I really doubt this is gonna work."

Grabbing a fistful of Jordan's belly was easier said than done. While her skin had a small amount of give, it was still too small to allow Flora's fist to grab a complete hold of it. Still, she managed to snag enough to attempt to lift this small area of her friend. Though she made more progress than she'd expected, spotting more of the metal chair leg and even a smidgen of the fabric that made the seat itself, she knew the weight of Jordan's belly made this view unsustainable. As quickly as she dared, Flora used her other hand to grab the metal leg and give it a good yank. Surprisingly, the remains of the chair inched forward, though not enough to fully remove it before her other arm grew tired and she allowed the mass to rest once more against the grass and chair.

"That's an interesting feeling. Close but no cigar. I can tell it's a little further out. And the bump is that much smaller! Keep it up!"

Once more, Flora lifted and pulled. This time, her previous efforts meant the section of Jordan's belly remained airborne a shorter time than before, resulting in less progress. Still only most of 1 leg peeked out from beneath the behemoth.

Flora panted as she sat down for a moment to strategize. "OK *pant*, new plan."

"Not sure what other plan there is. It'll get o- Flora?" 

Jordan spied Flora walking toward the garage in front of her bulk. "Where are you going?"

Flora said nothing, preferring her friend's ignorance to adding a few extra moments to what was sure to be her reaction to her plan. After several seconds, Flora emerged from the garage holding something behind her back. "Flora, what's that?"

Once more, Flora returned to kneeling by the partially exposed chair. "Flora, what are you gonna do?"

Jordan felt her friend's hand up her side yet again. For a split second, she assumed Flora had just resumed her previous plan. Then she felt it. The unmistakable feeling of cool metal under her upraised belly. "GAH! A little heads-up next time! What is that, Flora?"

As if the sudden, cold steel wasn't enough, her body quavered in a jerking motion, nudging her back, left quadrant even higher into the air; not quite to its previously lofty 15-foot mark, but still large enough for Jordan. Each jerk sent a cascade of water and flesh in disarray, both exciting and confusing Jordan. This time, even the few bubbles sent flying and blooping by the motion weren't enough to quell Jordan's dismay at the situation. "Flora, what on Earth are you doing back there?"

Just then, she realized she only felt a tiny portion of the chair beneath her mass. The part of her that previously covered the rest of the chair felt fresh air for the first time in several hours. Also, the jerky upward motion of that area of her stomach had ceased. Just as quickly as this dawned on her, she felt the chair suddenly pulled from under her. It was a load off her mind, but it was short-lived.

"Sorry, had to go get the jack."

It was Jordan's turn to be confused. "The j- I'm sorry, did you say the jack?"

At this, she felt the jerking motion once again, though this time, her belly quivered its way back to the ground each time. "Yeah, that chair was pretty far under you. It'd take me a day to get up the energy to slowly pull that out, so I got a little assistance."

Finally, the cold metal was removed from her side. Jordan struggled in vain to see her friend. "Flora, I'm just- could you please come around to the front so I can see you?"

Flora did just that, still holding the jack, crossing her arms. "Yes?"

"Are you seriously telling me you just lifted my glorious, watery form... with a jack?"

"Yes."

"And what made you think that was OK?"

"Do you see a bump?"

"Do I see a- wait." Jordan quickly turned back toward the offending area. Sure enough, the lumps that had previously graced her mass were no more, displaced into the rest of her bulk. She was one step closer to being the divine, smooth creature of her dreams. She turned her gaze back to Flora.

"I'm sorry! I just- I thought you were treating me like a... a thing, I guess. Like I'm just something you work on like a car and you didn't tell me what you were doing!"

"I figured you'd get mad, which... you did. As for treating you like a thing, of course not! I mean, let's face it, conventional methods for treating someone's body are not the way to go for you right now. I had to improvise."

Jordan beamed. "Well, I'm glad you did! No more bump!" She slapped her front like one would slap their knees in happiness. "I'm just giddy! Now the only thing left is- oh no!"

"What?"

"Am I looking... red to you?"


	4. Fun in the Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skin health is important, even for human water balloons.

Flora gave a quick glance over Jordan's sides. "Red? Look, I can understand this entire situation being embarrassing, but you haven't blushed a bit since this whole thing started. Why get shy now?"

Jordan cocked her eyebrow. "Shy? No, not red as in blushing. I mean, do you think I'm getting a farmer's tan?"

"I think most farmers are a few gallons shy of your size, friendo." Flora retorted, poking said friendo's side. "But now that you mention it, you are starting to look like the world's largest tomato."

Jordan balked. "Tomato? Is it that bad down there? I thought I was just a little red!"

"No, no, nothing that bad. I'm pulling your leg. Well, I would pull your leg if it weren't 9 feet up."

Jordan still looked concerned. "I don't get it! I put on sunscreen before I came out here this morning."

"Two things. One: I'm surprised Little Miss Let's Become a Water Balloon had the presence of mind to apply sunscreen."

"Hey, skin health is very important, especially now that there's a little more skin to go around." At this, Jordan held up a fist full of flesh to hide her face from Flora.

"Well, that brings me to Two: that sunscreen is meant for a human-sized... human."

Jordan still didn't seem to get it. "I mean, I covered my belly before! Even let it soak in a few minutes before coming outside. Must not be a high enough SPF."

Flora sighed. "It's basic math. You put on sunscreen to cover Previous You. You grew more skin than 10 people combined. That sunscreen didn't grow along with you. I mean, what little there is still might be keeping you from becoming a giant tomato, but it's not nearly enough to stop you from burning."

Jordan pouted and crossed her arms to rest atop her bulk. "But what about the air bubble? I can feel it's bigger than before. It's just... ugh!"

Flora gave a reassuring pat to her friend's side, reaching as high up as she could. "It'll still be there once we figure this out. For now, I think you need to reapply. Be right back."

Jordan was about to retort that her priorities lied with ridding herself of the gas bubble she felt lodged toward her feet, but Flora was off to the house. After a few minutes, she thought her friend had given up and started watching TV or finishing more work. Just as she was about to attempt to poke the air-filled patch with her feet to see if she could figure out a plan, she felt a small cascade of plastic bottles bounce atop her belly with several small smacks. Unfortunately, their earlier escapades had cleaned most of the bubbles from her bulk, so Jordan didn't even get the consolation of feeling them zip up her insides. "AH! What's this?"

Flora emerged from behind her. "Got you all the sunscreen in the house."

Jordan stared at the bottles to her side, then back to her friend with a puzzled look. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Weren't you just telling me sunscreen is funscreen?"

"Yes, but how exactly do you propose I get it on me? I can get maybe-" Jordan reached each arm to either side of her, "a little over 5 feet of the top of me. And I'm 15 feet wide. And that doesn't even factor in my sides."

It was Flora's turn to cross her arms at her friend. "So what's your solution?"

"I- I mean, I just figured you could... you know, help a girl out?"

Flora put her hand to her forehead. "I don't know, Jordan. This is... I mean, ignoring how long it'll take, it's just... I don't know...."

"What?"

"Gross."

Jordan's mouth was agape. "I can't believe- you think I'm disgusting, don't you?"

"No, that's not what I-"

"I saw the way you looked at me when the bubbles came up. You think of me as just some... some sack of water! Some garbage bag plopped in the middle of your yard that you have to deal w-"

"Jordan, please, listen," Flora once again placed a reassuring hand on her friend's belly. "I'm not saying you're gross. You know I don't think that. You think I'd scratch your itch and climb on top of you in the first place if I thought you were gross?"

Jordan said nothing, but seemed a little less upset. 

"I just meant... we haven't... done stuff in quite a while. We've had other partners since then. And putting sunscreen on someone else is... a couple's thing."

Jordan sighed. "Flora, for starters, I wasn't even thinking of it as a couple's thing. More of an 'I'm physically incapable of doing this' thing. If I could get a big ol' pole and go to town on myself, I would."

Flora opened her mouth just as Jordan said, "Don't," then continued, "But as it stands, I can't see all of me, much less touch all of me. I mean, I'll... I'll pay you if you w-"

"No, no, oh my gosh, no! I'll do it for free. When you put it like that, yeah, I was just being, I don't know, a prude. Silly me and my old-fashioned beliefs about who should apply sunscreen to a thousand gallon woman."

Jordan smirked and grabbed the nearest bottle laying beside and on top of her. "Look out below."

Flora caught the bottle Jordan tossed down. "OK, you handle as much of the top as you can and I'll start down here."

As they each started at their respective stations, Flora squirted a dollop of sunscreen onto her palm and got to work rubbing into her friend's giant side. She could've sworn she heard a gentle hum of appreciation as she smoothed it into her. Within a few minutes, however, upon looking up and seeing the sheer amount of work ahead of her, Flora came up with an innovative idea.

To Jordan, the past few minutes had been delightful. She enjoyed the cooling feeling of the sunscreen she rubbed on her main body and bit of her bulk while her friend lovingly worked even more of the silky cream into her belly. It wasn't quite the tickling sensation caused by the feeling of cool metal on her outsides or freed bubbles on her insides, but it was still relaxing. She distantly noticed Flora had stopped rubbing her side for longer than it normally took her to squirt out more lotion. Just as she was about to ask if something was up, she felt the fruits of Flora's new plan.

Flora held the sunscreen bottle at a slight angle and squeezed it hard, shooting a stream of lotion across five feet of her friend's frame. Of course, what she hadn't planned on was the reaction Jordan's belly had to sudden contact with a cool stream of cream. The affected section of stomach twitched several times in succession, spasming in fits and starts along the line of lotion. "OOF! That's cold! Flora, what are you doing over there?"

Flora looked up like she'd been caught stealing from the cookie jar. "I just- look there's a lot of you to go around and I thought this would make covering you a bit quicker."

She looked down to her roommate's side and snorted. "What's so funny?" Jordan asked, clutching at her front belly skin in a vain attempt to peek over to see her own side.

"It seems like your belly's reaction to my great idea was to twitch so much, it dumped pretty much all of the lotion on the ground."

"Damn it! And lotion's at a premium considering my surface area."

"Could you maybe... I don't know, try not to twitch?"

"Flora, you know I've always been a bit ticklish. And like I said, whether it makes sense or not, I think my skin being pulled so tight has exposed my nerves or they grew right along with me."

Flora pondered for a moment as she rubbed what little lotion remained from her grand plan into her friend as she, too, continued her work up top. "I can't speak to that, but I do think it's the same as anyone else being tickled. If you know it's coming, it doesn't tickle as much. There's no shock to it. You didn't know I was gonna squirt you, so your body freaked out. Maybe if you... just brace yourself for it, you'll stay still?"

"Worth a shot I suppose. Like you said, we have limited sunscreen, but I also don't want to get much redder than I am. Pretty sure if I start to peel like this, you won't want to sleep on me anymore."

"You're not wrong. But... you want me to sleep on you?"

Jordan turned a bit redder, and it wasn't from the sun. "S-sure! I mean, the weight feels... nice. You're like a tiny weighted blanket. And you give me a sense of how big I am. Like you're a whole person just... on me, with plenty of room to spare. Plus... I-I'm comfortable, right?"

"Do you want to be comfortable?"

"Who doesn't?"

Flora looked up to where she knew her roommate's head was. "Yeah, if I'm being honest, you're the best sleep I've had in a while."

Jordan seemed to break out of the haze of this bonding moment. "Anyway, OK, I'll try to anticipate the squirt. Maybe give me a tap so I know where you're gonna do it."

Flora nodded. "Right, how about I go from here-" she prodded as far up as she could reach on the side near Jordan's left shoulder, "all the way to here-" she dragged her finger 3 feet to the right. 

"It's a little smaller than last time, so even if you jiggle and it comes off, we haven't wasted as much."

"S-sounds like a plan."

Flora walked back around to Jordan's front to see her face. "Jordan, you OK? We don't have to do it if you don't w-"

"Just- do you mind if I twitch? Just a little?"

For the 80th time today, Flora looked confused. "Um, fine by me."

As soon as Flora gave her approval, a relatively mild, full-body jiggle emanated from Jordan's belly. "S-sorry. OK, let's try this."

"Wait, I have to ask. What was that?"

Jordan put her head in hands. "Ugh, why is this all so embarrassing? This happened before. When you kicked me?"

"Yeah, I remember. Sorry. Again."

"No, no, like I said, I wanted the bug gone and you got it gone. Well, I'm sure you saw what that kick did to my body. Santa's bowl full of jelly ain't got nothing on me!"

Flora nodded, unsure how to react to that.

"So did you hear anything after the kick?"

"Yeah, you yelled and... well."

"It's OK. You can say it."

Flora's voice quieted. "You blooped."

Jordan giggled. "Well, I may not have put it that way, but yes, I blooped. Did you wonder what that was?"

"Hmm, I kinda assumed it was just some water moving around in you."

"Technically, yes, but more precisely, I felt a huge number of those little bubbles pop off my sides and zip up to my top."

"But wouldn't that make more of a fizz than a bloop?"

"Yes, and maybe you were too far down to hear it, but I did detect some fizzing noises from behind me. But the bloop was actually a big bubble that was settled on the bottom. Those other little slaps couldn't budge it, but your kick right next to it set that bad boy free. It may not have slipped up my side like its little brothers, but the feeling of it just taking off and the change in pressure as it burst up into the air pocket was..." At this delightful memory, Jordan issued forth another full-body twitch.

"OK, but that still doesn't explain your need to shake."

"Like I said, I twitched all over right after all the bubbles died down. Now, at first, I wondered why I didn't twitch while it was all popping off, so to speak. But I realized I had sort of suppressed it because I was handling all these other sensations. I'd just had this gross ant on me, I got kicked, my belly was more or less a tossed water balloon. It was a lot to feel at one time. But once that stopped, I just felt this... need in me to shiver. Like I knew I had experienced this wonderful feeling, but I hadn't been able to express it at the time. So once I could, I did."

"So when I moved my hand up you... that felt so good you wanted to shake, but you held back?"

"Exactly. I was thinking in my head that I can't twitch. I must stay still. But once you finished, that need to quiver was very strong."

"So you're saying you can probably hold back long enough for my plan to work, but we need to have a system? Squirt, hold back, rub, shake?"

"Sounds like the worst dance craze ever, but yes."

Flora walked back around to her friend's side, only to be interrupted once more. "But maybe rub only a little? Just enough to where I can't jiggle it off onto the grass. I mean, I have self-control, but... it's a mighty powerful feeling."

Flora patted Jordan's belly like she was patting her on the head. "Yes, indeed."

The system worked pretty well. Flora traced the sunscreen's flight path along her friend's mass, Jordan scrunched her face in concentration, Flora let loose a torrent of lotion and rubbed it widely around for a few seconds. Then, after a quick tap to let her know it was safe, Jordan quivered in sheer delight. This continued for about 10 minutes, making short work of 3 bottles of sunscreen. Of course, Jordan had long since finished the small area near her main body she could reach, so her job mainly entailed lobbing lotion bottles toward her friend when needed and temporarily preventing her belly from expressing the joy caused by her friend's ministrations. She couldn't help but hum a little at the cooling sensation of the lotion slowly coating her massive frame.

Once Jordan's left side was fully covered, Flora had to shield her eyes with her hands. "Phew! You're like a big, squishy marble out here! I'm glad I brought shades."

"I know it's not part of my goals, but somehow the idea of being shiny is... nice."

"Are you a Disney villain?"

"I see no reason why I shouldn't be."

"Hmm. I figure I'll come up there and get the spots you can't reach. It shouldn't take as long as either side and it's more directly in the sun."

Jordan frowned as Flora propped the ladder back against her roommate. "Guess you should've started here. Though-" she turned back toward her back half, "I'm still not too red. Still in farmer's tan territory, which is fine by me."

Flora reached the top and left the ladder where it was for a much easier exit next time. "Now, I guess I should warn you about the last bottle I have."

"Flora, I know, we've been over this. I'll hold back the twitching and you just mark out where you're gonna do. Maybe just use your feet this time to make it easier on you."

"I'm just say-"

"Look, I don't mean to rush you, but the sooner I get protected from the sun, the sooner we can get that-" Jordan jerked her head back derisively toward her back "out of the way."

Flora looked to the area behind her friend's feet, expecting the same slightly raised air pocket as her last time aboard the S. S. Jordan. What she saw astounded her. 

Jordan had said the "patch" seemed bigger. She wasn't exaggerating. It had grown in girth from an inch or so to 1 foot high with almost no taper between it and the surrounding flesh. It was also much wider at 8 feet in diameter. Flora was astounded. "What the- where did that come from?"

Jordan turned toward her friend as far as she could. "Honestly, Flora, it's like you don't pay attention sometimes. After your kick, all those bubbles rose up. Well I still haven't been able to burp, so where do you think they settled? My sides are smoother, which is nice, though I miss the feeling of the bubbles. And as smooth as my sides are, that... thing looks worse than it did before, which isn't a fair trade."

Flora reached out to poke the giant bubble, though thought better of it when she saw Jordan's forlorn face. This was no longer even a blemish, but a growth. When one is a container for thousands of gallons of water, even an air pocket is an aberration. "Sorry. It won't be much longer. Your top'll be quick and the other side is partially against the pool, so there's not as much real estate over there."

In the confusion and emotion of this tangent, Flora had completely forgotten what she wanted to warn her friend about. Namely, it was spray-on sunscreen. As suddenly, spasmically cold as the rub-on lotion was, it had nothing on propellant-pushed liquid. Flora started right in front of her on the air pocket.

To call it a shiver is an understatement. Since the air pocket was out of Jordan's view, she couldn't mentally steel herself to combat the twitching. Even if she had been able to, it's unlikely she could. As the spray touched the protrusion, the bubble managed to squeeze in on itself like a crumpled plastic bag. The twitching managed to contort Jordan's pocket enough to squeeze the air to further down itself, making that section even larger. Almost as soon as the squeezing started, that section of the pocket unclenched, allowing the air it previously housed to return, leaving the bubble no worse for wear.

Jordan on the other hand, was clenching her teeth like she had a brain freeze. "Flora! Would it kill you to warn a girl before freezing her?"

Flora quickly realized her mistake. "Well, I tried to, but someone cut me off."

"I'm sorry. It's not your fault. Just please hurry up so we can figure out what to do with that... thing."

Flora did, following much the same pattern as on the ground, except marking her intended course with her feet. She also had to be careful to avoid spraying anywhere near her own feet, lest the eventual twitching knock her onto her ass and her friend's belly. After her work was done, Flora plopped down on her friend beside her main body, seemingly forgetting this was her roommate and not the ground. The resulting smack and gentle sound of jostling water made Jordan deadpan and Flora giggle.

"Wait, aren't you going to do my other side?"

"You know, I thought about it, and the sun's not even over there. It's only that direction in the morning. Plus, we might need the rest of our supply for tomorrow."

Jordan looked at her with a slight frown. "What do you mean 'might?'"

Flora chose her words carefully. "Well..., do you think you'll still be here when the sun comes up tomorrow?"

"I live here."

"Yes..., but I meant more in terms of will you still have a pool inside you tomorrow morning?"

Jordan looked away. "I... this is me now, Flora. I don't exactly expect you to know why I want to be this way or for you to want it for yourself, but... I'd like your support with this. Like I said, I'm not above paying you for whatever... help you can provide. I mean, I know this has been a lot of work for you. But I'm not going anywhere."

Flora felt a hug was in order, though Jordan's position as a zit on her own belly didn't make that easy. She opted for putting an arm around her friend's back and laying beside her. "You're right. I don't fully get it, but I'm here for you. As for money... well, as you said before, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Jordan returned the half-hug, a single tear streaking down her face. "Thanks.... Now, what to do about-" Jordan turned back toward the bubble she knew was there out of the corner of her eye, "that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any science-based questions regarding this fic should have the Mystery Science Theater 3000 mantra applied to them: repeat to yourself "it's just a fic. I should really just relax."


	5. A Body in Motion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who said Physics 101 was useless?

Flora flipped over onto her back, sending a series of ripples out from her body and down her friend's belly. She rubbed her chin as she stared at the enormous bubble protruding from Jordan's back half.

"Hmm... what to do.... You said you can't burp right now, right?"

Jordan nodded and opened her mouth as if trying to burp. "Nothing happens when I try. But I know it's right there, waiting to get out."

"Wait," Flora stood up and walked across her roommate's girth to the loathsome air pocket. "When you say you know it's right there, do you mean you feel like you have to burp?"

"No," Jordan tilted her head as if finally realizing the oddity of the situation. "I just meant I feel it back behind me, pushing on my skin."

"Oh, first things first. Do you have any other bubbles that need attending to?"

Jordan closed her eyes a moment. "Well..., there might be a few on my side. Especially- yeah, especially on the side by the pool."

Flora sighed. "Well, get to bopping then!"

Jordan frowned. "That's only locally effective. I tap an area and if there's a bubble right there, off it goes. I can't reach any of my sides, so I've only been able to get the ones already on the top."

"But you said you felt a bunch of bubbles and one huge one take off a while ago."

"Yes, when you kicked me. But I know I feel some more on that side. And-" Jordan peered toward her right side, "it evens looks a little... uneven."

Flora followed her gaze. "Looks smooth as a baby's bum to me."

"Hey, whose belly is this?" Jordan asked, slapping her stomach as a point of pride. "I feel the bubbles, I can tell it'll be even smoother once they're gone."

Flora held up her hands and walked back to the ladder. "Fine, fine.... By the way," she said as she descended, "You were really making waves when I kicked you, so why didn't that take care of your other side's bubbles, too?"

"Hmm, well, I was a little preoccupied at the time, so I don't remember precisely how I moved, but I think I remember feeling some of the rolls of skin smack against the side of the pool. Since that's toward the front right, that stopped the wave of water from getting all the way around me. It just bounced back toward me up here and you down there."

Flora stepped off the ladder. "Again, really sorry about kicking you."

"It's no problem. I guess I can't bruise. Plus, you saved yourself a lot of trouble. You'd be the one stuck playing all of me like a bongo instead of just this side if you hadn't kicked me."

Flora approached Jordan's right side. She removed her sunglasses as her friend's towering height blocked the sun. While most of this side looked just like the other, minus the glossy sheen of newly-applied sunscreen, at about the section where Jordan's hips started 9 feet up, the first 6 feet of Jordan's bulk had crashed through the above-ground pool. A portion of flesh about the size of two average adults had spilled out into the now empty pool. "Does that hurt?"

"Playing me like a bongo? No, I did that to myself before to get rid of the bubbles."

"No, I mean this bit of you in the pool. It's sort of jammed into this sharp edge on the pool wall. Is that not cutting into you?"

"I've got thick skin, Flora! No pool's gonna tell me what to do!" 

"You still haven't answered me. Does it hurt?"

Jordan paused. "It's a bit like the chair before. Doesn't feel great, but I'm not dying over here. It's sort of like a tight bra."

Flora rushed over to the constricted flesh to see what could be done. From here, the bizarre nature of the problem revealed itself. The branch of Jordan's belly crammed into the destroyed sliver of pool was indeed wedged in pretty good. What's more, since the pool wall was only 6 feet high while Jordan's mass stretched 9 feet in the air, another 3 feet of Jordan's belly flesh hung slightly over the remaining wall. "Geez, Jordan.... Before we tackle your remaining bubbles, let's get you out of this pool."

Jordan sighed. "Fine, just get into the pool from the other side, push me out of there, and get these bubbles movin'."

"It's not that simple," Flora climbed up the steps to the pool and hopped down to the bottom. "See, this-" here she poked the main bulb of Jordan lodged in the pool wall, "is stuck inside the pool wall. If it were just that, you'd be right. But then we also have this-" here Flora gestured to the 3 feet seated on the pool wall like a fleshy overhang. 

"If you're pointing at something, I can't see it."

"Hold on," Flora grabbed a nearby pool noodle and prodded the top of the 3 foot shelf. "We have this. It's sitting on the pool wall, so even if I had the strength to push out the main bit of you, the weight of that other part would just make it go back in again. Or, even worse, if it no longer had that other bit to support it, it might totally rest on the wall. And as big as you are, I think you might really crush the pool then."

"Flora, the pool's shot anyway. Who cares if I come in like a wrecking ball. Again?"

"It's not the pool I'm worried about. As thick as you claim your skin is, I don't think pool wall shrapnel mixes well with human skin."

Flora realized the predicament her friend was in when the full body shiver this warning gave Jordan caused only her flesh shelf to shimmy. The main branch sat almost perfectly still in its constraints. "You're right. I-If I'm honest, I'm a little worried. I mean, the water in me's only been getting warmer since it got inside and warm water takes up more space than cold water. If I'm lodged in there too well, if I get any bigger...."

Flora gave a quick pet to the branch of her friend before her. "Don't worry, I'm gonna get you out of this. Or, well, this part of you. Now, let me think."

Putting her finger to her chin, Flora paced around the small section of the pool immediately near her roommate's skin, trying to figure out her next move. Jordan, finding another itch that she could scratch this time, set to work on her bulk with her nails. As Flora noticed the resulting jiggles reach the shelf of flesh sitting atop the pool wall, she came up with a solution. "Say, Jordan?"

"Yes?"

"You know how, when you move your main body enough, the rest of you sort of goes along with it?'

Another, stronger reverberation that caused Jordan's skin to squeak against the top of the pool wall confirmed her agreement. "Yes!"

"Well, here's what we're gonna do...."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This better work, Flora...."

"Who got an A in Physics?"

"I don't remember. I skipped that class."

"Well, just trust me then. Now, as soon as I say 'go,' you lean as far to the left as you can, as fast as you can. Anything you can think of to give me more time wouldn't hurt either."

Jordan was silent.

"Jordan, it's gonna be fine."

"I know, but... Flora, if something happens-"

"Nothing will happen."

"Yes, but if something does, just know that you were trying your best and you're a wonderful roommate and you can have all of my C-"

"Jordan, I appreciate this, I really do, but tears are not gonna make this easier. Now, just wait for my signal."

Flora pulled down her work goggles, held up the chainsaw, and began work on the pool wall to the right of her friend's belly. She grinned at how quickly the chainsaw worked through the fiberglass wall, ecstatic she'd had it sharpened a few weeks ago. 

As she reached the bottom of the pool, she heard a groaning noise from the pool. Instinct told her to run, to abandon all hope of helping her friend and just wish her a fond farewell before the whole thing buckled and one sharp piece did her in. But she told herself she still had time. She stopped the chainsaw's action for a moment, long enough to flip over to the left side of her friend's belly. Once more, she started slicing through the wall, but this time, once she got halfway down, she turned off the chainsaw just long enough to yell "GO!"

The next several seconds were the tensest of Flora and Jordan's lives. As soon as she heard Flora yell, Jordan threw her main body to the left as hard and quickly as she could. Sure enough, this sudden motion caused the water within her to follow the weight on top of it, away from the pool in which it had once resided. It wasn't enough to make her tip over, but it was close, and Jordan could swear she actually felt the edge of her belly where it dipped down toward the ground. 

As Jordan propelled herself to the left, the portion of her belly stuck in the pool gradually dug itself out of the pool wall. It moved somewhat slower than the rest of her, resulting in a distinct noise of suction as it was finally yanked out of its confines. The flesh shelf above it was already away by the time it popped out.

As soon as she knew she had enough space, Flora hurriedly finished sawing the left section of pool down to the bottom. She then rushed to saw to the right of where she'd just stopped, freeing that section of the wall to fall back into the pool itself. She gave a frenzied look toward Jordan's bulk to see whether she was already too late. Blessedly, Jordan's belly wasn't quite rebounding yet, though she could tell the wave was coming. Flora hadn't been lying when she said she'd got an A in Physics. She knew that belly had been at rest against the pool wall, so it would slam back into the same area in precious few seconds. Flora raced to saw through the bottom of the rightmost section of wall. The moment it fell back into the pool, Flora was elated, but not for long.

You see, while she was undoubtedly a physics whiz in college, that had been a few years ago. And maybe it was the lazy day laying atop her friend or maybe it was the fumes of multiple sunscreen bottles, but Flora forgot to remove one last thing from near the pool wall for when Jordan's belly made its triumphal return: herself.

With the same speed at it which it made its exit, Jordan's side rushed back to the pool. While Flora had had the presence of mind to fully stop the chainsaw and drop it well behind herself, she didn't place the same amount of consideration into where her body was. So imagine her surprise when she looked up to see her friend's belly smack her in the face and off her feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet another cliffhanger because you know what you need in your inflation fic? Drama!


	6. 50 Gallons Freed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did Flora and Jordan survive the pool? Will Jordan realize her own limits?

For a second time in one day, Flora woke to a view of the open sky. This time, however, the circumstances were a tad different. To begin, her head was thumping so hard, she thought her heart might've lodged itself in there. Considering the feats her roommate's body had accomplished a short while ago, it didn't sound that far-fetched. She also didn't hear birdsong this time, but the faint, muffled sound of someone yelling. As she struggled to lift her head, the yelling became somewhat clearer.

"-ora! Please wake up! Oh, fuck! Where's-Where's my phone?! I left it inside! Shit! Please, Flora, get up!"

Flora attempted to calm her bulbous friend by saying "I'm up," but it came out more like she was trying and failing to burp. Still, Jordan managed to hear this. "Flora! Oh, please tell me you're OK! I can't see you at this angle."

Flora sat up more fully, though still taking things slow. The pounding in her head had stopped, but she still felt like she'd just, well, been smacked upside the head. "I'm OK, Jordan.... Wait, if you can't see me, how do you know I fell over?"

Jordan huffed. "You don't think I know what another person's skin feels like? I came rushing back into the pool and I felt something very you-shaped smack against my belly. Heard it, too, honestly."

Flora surveyed the scene around her. She hadn't got thrown too far: maybe a couple feet. The pool was just as demolished as she'd made it with the opening she cut into the wall meaning it was now roughly 75% intact. Jordan's belly lay calmly against the side of the pool, spilling into it just as much as the smaller nub of her had before, though this time there was more room for her smooth side to sprawl along the edge. The area where the branch had been was as flat and smooth as the rest of her (well, except the dreaded air pocket), though there was a distinct red line in the skin traced around its circumference, much like the angry marks left after removing a bra. 

"But you're sure you're OK? You're not saying much."

"Yeah, getting smacked on my ass tends to shut me up."

Flora heard rather than saw the sudden intake of breath by Jordan. "Sorry, I'm just being bitchy and not very... with it right now. I didn't mean anything against you. I meant I'm not exactly quoting Shakespeare at the moment. But, how are you doing? I see that line on you."

"Line? What line? I have a line?"

Jordan's mass jiggled from the top as she searched every square inch she could see for this supposed line. Flora stood up and walked the few feet over to Jordan's side. "Yes, right here."

Flora traced the red line around her belly in its roughly tear drop shape. The area quivered after such delicate treatment. "I'm glad nothing happened to you. I'd have missed that."

"Is that all I am to you? A human back-scratcher?"

"No. That's not my back, silly. Oh, and of course not! You're my friend. You just happened to make me this way, so you're naturally committed to supporting my new lifestyle!"

Flora tilted her head. "Does a belly qualify as a lifestyle?"

From atop her watery perch, Jordan vigorously patted both sides of her top, jiggling her form once more. "It does when it's the biggest in the tri-state area!"

"Firstly, don't count your chickens til Ripley's gets out here. Secondly, lovely as that is, Doofenshmirtz, just tell me whether that red line hurts or not."

"Hmm, no, I can't say it does. I mean, it feels a little.. different from the rest of me. Definitely better than it did stuck in that pool. I guess it's just like an indent from some clothes after you take it off. Give it some time and it'll look and feel fine."

Flora patted her pal, realizing it was as much for her own comfort as it was for Jordan's. "I'm glad you're safe, Jordan."

"And I'm glad my belly didn't kill you."

"You ever hear something and realize no one else must've ever said this sentence before?"

"Honey, that's been 90% of what we've said today."

Flora laughed and turned back toward the house. She saw the sun was starting to set and realized this truly had been an all-day affair. Picking up the chainsaw, she climbed out of the pool and walked back over to the front of her friend. "Well, this has been an eventful day, but I really need to get some dinner and go to bed."

"Sure, you can pop in to get a bite, then come back up onto your own personal water bed."

Flora looked at the ground and dug her heel into the dirt. "You see, the thing is...."

"What? I thought you said I was the best sleep you'd had in a while!"

"You were. Really. Don't get me wrong. But it gets down to 65 at night."

"I'm not averse to having a blanket up here. I mean, I don't expect one for all of me. You'd have to sew together all of our comforters."

"Wait, you're not gonna be cold out here yourself?"

Jordan shook her head. "I doubt it. The way I figure it is, right now, the water's warmed up a bit from how it was in the pool. I guess skin insulates better than fiberglass. Right now, when it's 85 out, I could stand a top-off of cold water if I'm being honest. But at night, that water will still be warm."

"So you'll be both a human water bed and a human water bottle?"

"Precisely! I have so many uses, Billy Mays should sell me!"

"One: Billy Mays is dead and two: human trafficking is illegal."

"You're no fun."

Flora yawned. "Well, like I said, I'm off to get some f- Wait.... Aren't you hungry?"

Jordan scratched her chin. "No. I am a bit thirsty like I said. If you just wanna toss that hose my way, I could cool off a bit before bedtime."

"Nice try, but I don't particularly feel like digging more of you out of the pool tomorrow. But seriously? You haven't eaten anything since breakfast. And I remember you only having yogurt and a fruit cup. How are you not hungry?"

"Hmm... well, I am full. I mean, literally. This. Is. Full," Jordan accented each word with a jostle of her belly. 

"No arguments here. Just thought the Jordan diet typically involved something more solid than a few thousand gallons of water."

"Well, it does give me a bit of water weight, but I'm not even a little hungry. Plus, imagine what that would do to my figure!"

Flora scoffed. "Yes, if only we had a way of seeing what gallons of pool water does to the human body."

"No, you dingus, I mean, imagine what food would do to this! I wouldn't be nice and smooth! Like say I swallowed some bread. Well, that'll just soak up a little water and float around in me. Even if it feels nice trucking along my insides, it'll make a little bump. No can do."

"Yes, that would be a travesty of the utmo-"

"And speaking of, missy-" Jordan pointed at her now starving friend, "The whole point of this exercise was to release the last of my bubbles, so you could finally figure out what to do with my... problem."

"Jordan-" Flora caressed her roommate's side, "I'm gonna help you with it. I really am. But I just got knocked out for a few seconds after spending the day climbing all over you. I need a Hot Pocket and 8 hours of shut-eye. We'll tackle that air pocket first thing tomorrow."

Jordan wasn't thrilled, but her expression became more neutral and her finger returned to the top of her belly. "Fine. First thing."

Flora turned and walked to the back door. As she opened it, she quickly turned back around. "Wait, before I forget, do you need anything out here?"

Jordan drummed her fingers on her belly. "What do I need? What do I need...? Oh! My phone and, hmm, my laptop would be nice. Guess I can't use it too long since there's no way I can charge it out here. Anything el-"

Flora was growing bored of the excuses Jordan made to keep her out there. She quickly gathered up Jordan's phone and laptop and returned to her side. "Oh, thanks, Fl-"

That was when Jordan felt her phone smack down onto her top and slide down to her boobs. "You love doing that, don't you?"

"Never gets old. Plus, you said yourself you have thick skin. I think it can take an iPhone."

"I suppose. But don't toss my laptop. I bet my belly could take it, but I don't know if the laptop can, plus, if you m-"

The feeling of a bare foot on the back of her bulk alerted Jordan that Flora had thought one step ahead. She crossed her friend's bulk and handed her the laptop. "Thanks again, Flora.... Last chance to get some more sleep courtesy of your best pal?"

Flora smirked. "I appreciate the offer, but I think you're more of a daytime snooze." At this, Flora turned to descend the ladder. 

"Flora?"

Flora barely suppressed the urge to glare. "What?"

"In all seriousness, could you please toss me the garden hose and turn it on?"

"You didn't get too dirty today. My hands and feet are clean and-"

"No, I mean... I'm thirsty."

Flora hoped the low light made her thousand yard stare invisible. "Jordan, you are filled with several thousand gallons of water."

"These aren't the contradictory statements you think they are."

"Even if you are thirsty and not just trying to cool off, you're already 15 feet across and 9 feet high. You're maybe... 3 feet away from part of the house. I refuse to wake up in the middle of the night to a wall caving in."

"I know my limits."

Flora gestured wildly at the entirety of Jordan's frame. "Do you?"

Jordan pouted.

"Look, I know I said I support your goal to be... round and big and full of water. And I do. But we need to set ground rules. To start, this is the biggest you're gonna get."

"I told you, I have plenty of roo-"

"No, I mean, I don't want you to get any bigger. We're already gonna be spending a fortune on sunscreen for the foreseeable future if this thing stays like it is. More girth only adds to that."

Jordan sighed, admitting defeat, at least for now. "Like you said before, this'll take some adjustments. I'll sit here and think of a solution that'll satisfy us both. I'll see you in the morning."

Flora smiled, confident Jordan would find her own special way of resolving the situation while somehow still giving her more work to do. She went down the ladder. "Night."

\----------------------------------------------

"FLORA!"

Flora shot up in bed, grabbing her phone to see the time: 2:41 am.

"FLORA, COME HERE NOW!"

As this was the third time she'd woken up after Jordan's literal ascension, she already knew the drill. Jordan was outside, laying on her belly. Rushing from her bed to the back door, she ran through the potential scenarios for her friend's screams: robbers, coyotes mistaking her for the world's largest bison, a rupture in her supposedly thick skin. 

None of them quite prepared her for the real reason behind the screams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yet another cliffhanger because surely you're only here for suspense, right?


	7. Purge and Binge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan attracts the wrong kind of attention at night and loses some weight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one gets a little bit... squicky? I mean, Jordan's a giant sloshing belly with a human on it, so squick is built right in, but this is a tad moreso.

Flora stared in horror at the small portion of Jordan's side illuminated by the porch light. While she could only see perhaps one-fifth of her frame, she could make out a flurry of movement around the massive belly. At first, she assumed this was just more of the jiggling she'd lately come to expect from her friend and that the light was simply accentuating the ripples of her waving skin. As she got closer, she saw this wasn't the belly itself, but a variety of creeping visitors.

Practically every square foot or so of Jordan's stomach was covered in bugs: moths mostly, with a few beetles, and stink bugs to boot. The insects had been attracted by the porch light and, seeing their ilk already crowding up the light source itself, decided to rest on the nearest thing that reflected said light: Jordan's belly. Flora thought she might gag.

Of course, if Flora was ready to retch, Jordan was one step ahead of her. As soon as Flora cautiously approached her roommate's mass, she saw the second most disturbing sight of the night. Jordan leaned as far forward on her belly as she could, stretching even further than Flora thought possible, til her hands just about grazed the slope of her side. She opened her mouth and issued forth a stream of water, as wide as her maw, down the front of her belly, washing away any bugs caught in its path. The deluge continued for about a full minute. Flora, for her part, stood in awe, unsure of how or if she could possibly help whatever the situation had devolved into.

As Jordan finally closed her mouth and wiped the back of her hand against it, she looked over to Flora and hoarsely screamed, "What are you doing?! Get these damn things off me!"

Flora sputtered for a second, knowing her previous method of kicking her friend's belly surely couldn't remove a few hundred bugs. Then, she rushed back to the house. 

At first, Jordan thought her bug-covered body and retching had scared her off. She didn't exactly blame her. Then, a minute later, Flora returned clutching two unidentified cans. Immediately, she started spraying one of them onto Jordan's soaked bulk on the side by her head. While the recent torrent of water had washed away all the moths from her front, Flora figured preventing them from returning, and her roommate from purging again, was the top priority. She then rushed to her right side to tackle the remaining insects. The bugs in and close to the spray took the hint and flew off. As the cold mist coated Jordan's sides, she involuntarily twitched in an odd combination of relief, cold, and disgust. Flora thought she might pass out from the noxious fumes of her friend's savior, but she soldiered on, knowing Jordan was helpless to rid herself of her infestation. 

Mercifully, Jordan's left side was largely devoid of creepy crawlies as it wasn't illuminated by the porch light. Still, Flora took no chances and used up the remaining spray to throw a few quick lines of repellent on at least part of it. She'd be damned if she was going to do this a second time tonight. Dropping the cans on the ground out of sheer exhaustion, Flora trudged back over to Jordan's front. "Hi...," she murmured.

Jordan was still catching her breath from her previous stint as a water spout. "Th-Thanks, Flora.... Oh my shit, thank you! I don't... don't know what happened. There were so many and I couldn't get them off and thought I was gonna-"

"Jordan, I'm really tired. I'd love to talk about this in the morning, k?"

"Oh... OK."

Flora turned around and Jordan assumed she'd shuffle back inside til the morning. Instead, she felt Flora's slippered feet alight on the top of her belly. "Oh, you're coming up topside, huh?"

Flora was entirely too tired to respond and merely gently laid on Jordan's back section, her back against the air bubble, her head sinking into her roommate's form like memory foam. 

"Sleep tight.... I guess."

\------------------------------------------

Flora opened her eyes to the sky above her backyard for the 3rd time in a day. This time, however, the sun was just peeking over the mountains in the horizon in front of their house. Knowing by now exactly where she was and who she was on top of, she gave a mighty stretch to her limbs and yawned. Why was she so tired? Oh, wait....

Slowly, in case her bed was still asleep, Flora turned over onto her side and pulled out her phone. She figured if Jordan was already awake, she would've greeted her by now, so she quickly perused some work emails and checked the weather. A slight chance of a shower in the afternoon. She hoped the weatherman was right about the chance being slight or she'd be staring out the window at a soggy, giant lump in 8 hours. As she was about to check Facebook, she heard a sniffle.

Flora cautiously turned her head to her roommate. She was curled up, as close to the fetal position as her connection to her belly allowed, gently sniffling and crying. Her fingers swirled lazy patterns in the patch of skin to her side. "Jordan? Honey, what's the matter?"

Jordan looked up and the tears that had almost stopped started up full force. "You hate me, don't you?"

"What?! Hate you- no, of course not!" Flora crawled toward the main body of her friend, distantly thinking it seemed a little more like crawling over a dismantled tent than a smooth expanse of skin. "Why would you think I hate you?"

Jordan stopped moving her hand against her belly and wiped her eyes. "I mean, just... last night. I was... I AM disgusting!"

"Jordan, I told you before, you are not disgusting! Why would you think that?"

"You saw... that! Those horrible bugs saw me as a-a valid place to spend the night."

"So did I."

"I'm just a problem! Everything about me is a problem! These... goals I have just make everything worse. For you and me. But especially you! You h-"

Flora put her finger to Jordan's lips. "Jordan, you were just a shiny spot and bugs like shiny things. Tomorrow night, we'll... we'll spray you down in bug spray. In fact, that's probably not a terrible idea to do every 12 hours or so. We'll make it a routine. Sunscreen, bug spray, belly's all set! See?"

"Flora, it's not just that. I... you saw what I...."

After a moment of silence, Flora asked, "What do you mean? Wait, are you talking about the... um, when you sort of-"

"When I puked up a waterfall?!" Jordan dramatically laid her head against her belly, sprawling her arms in front of her in her best imitation of a swoon.

"Well, I wasn't gonna put it like that, but... yeah. That's just- you were trying.... Did you intentionally do that?"

Jordan sighed. "A little. I mean, I remember I called for you.... And it took you a bit to get here. Maybe it was only a minute or something, but when... that was happening, it felt like forever. And I remember thinking 'you need to get these gross things off you! You can finally use your stupid body that got you into this mess and do something!' And... you saw what happened."

"Yeah, you really let loose for a bit. Frankly, I'm a little curious how you did that."

"How? I just threw up basically."

"Not precisely. I mean, when most people throw up, it's not all in one... time. Like you have to breathe or cough or other things in-between bouts. Once you started... you were going for a bit."

Jordan slowly looked down to her front half. "If you asked me to do it now... I don't think I could. I think it was this instinctual thing. I felt my muscles- I guess my throat muscles and maybe even whatever bits of belly muscles are still against my main body- sucking up the water in me. There was this... suction feeling right where my belly connects to my torso. Like my stomach was a glass and my main body was a straw.... Flora, how can you see me do something... so vile and-and so fucking weird and be OK with that?"

"Honey, I already know you're full of water. It's no big secret. Taking a little out is no problem."

Jordan emitted the tiniest chuckle, then frowned. "That's the thing, though. It wasn't a little."

"It was only a minute or so. Nothing compared to all this-" At this, Flora went to smack Jordan's side.

Except, her smack was more of a wet thwack. Flora looked down to her friend's surface and gasped. The previously taut skin looked positively crinkled. Small folds had developed along its length, mostly on the edges where they hung slightly down her sides like ganache on a cake. Since her skin was looser, the air pocket had become wider and shorter across Jordan's frame, essentially forming a thin plateau across her entire back half that was only slightly less flabby than the rest of her surface area. Knowing how distressed her friend was, Flora fought hard to prevent her eyes from bugging out at Jordan's frankly nauseating skin. "So-so you lost a little wat-"

"I'm a giant ball sac!"

Again, Flora held back her emotions, though this time, it was a snorting laugh she hid. "We can fix this. Hey, you said last night you wanted the hose. I'll go grab it for ya!"

"I thought you said you didn't want me any bigger."

"Hmm... you're right.... But wait a second. Yesterday, you said after the pump finished, you were 15 feet high, right?"

"Yeah."

"But when you released all the air- well, most of the air- you went down to 9 feet."

"Right."

"But you're still 15 feet wide."

"So?"

"Well... that doesn't make much sense. I mean, if you ended up a sphere and you shrank, why didn't you go down to a 9 foot sphere or whatever other size to hold all the water, but a sphere?"

"You know, I remember when I was a sphere, I sat there maybe ten seconds like that.... Honestly, it was pretty nice. That high up, looking down on the roof... the pressure in me was tremendo-"

"And?"

"And I remember feeling the air separating from the water in big bursts of bubbles, floating to the top, and the water trickling down to my bottom. When I was filling up and that short time after the water finished, I felt like I was mostly water all around, but as the air separated to the top, the water sank to my bottom. I could start to feel the separation, my water line, you could call it. And when I started feeling that separation, I started burping. I remember feeling my top half- I guess more precisely, my top hemisphere as it was then- shrinking down to meet the water line. Like only that part shrank. The bottom with all the water stayed where it was."

"But why though?"

"Hmm, I guess the water was already as spread out as it was gonna get and the power of the air releasing wasn't enough to pull my skin down there as taut. It didn't cinch up."

"But your top part did."

"Actually, not entirely. Yesterday, when you tried to lift my corner to get the chair, you couldn't get an entire fist of my skin. But at one point, I grabbed a fistful of my skin on top easily and pulled it up a good few inches. I think the top did cinch up some, but it still wasn't as tight as my sides and bottom."

"Again though, why? I mean, this time, you dump a little ballast and you're... saggy, but then you released 6 feet by 15 feet of air and your skin looked more or less taut. That makes no sense."

Jordan flipped over onto her back, causing Flora to do a doubletake. If Jordan could lay on her back while still attached to her massive belly, she really was loose. Flora tried her hardest not to stare at the fleshy, fold-filled piece that connected Jordan's main body to her belly. What little she had seen of it yesterday was enough to make her look away, but its newfound freedom of motion made Flora consider dumping her own, less voluminous ballast. "The only explanation I can come up with is I wanted to be that size. Or, not that exact size per se, but whatever size would let me hold just water. I didn't want to be a limp, saggy water bag. I wanted to be smooth and round. So my body knew to get rid of that excess skin."

"OK, but then why do you look like this now? You certainly don't want to."

"No, I don't, but I think my body knows cinching up right now is also a no-go."

Flora tilted her head. "And why is that?"

Jordan blushed. "I mean... look at the house."

Flora did just that. While it wasn't immediately apparent, she quickly realized her waterbed was somewhat shorter than yesterday. She looked to the ladder and gasped. Whereas yesterday, the top rung sat just below the top of Jordan's belly, today two rungs below it sat at her top. "You must've shrank, what... 2 feet?"

Jordan sighed, flapping her connection to her main body around idly. "I think so."

"So what you're saying is, your skin isn't shrinking to accommodate your water because you don't want to be this short?"

"Exactly! I mean, it is a theory. This is all somewhat new territory."

"Somewhat?"

"OK, entirely new."

"Well then," said Flora, awkwardly trying to stand up amidst her friend's skin folds. "I guess I'd better get myself some breakfast and you a hose." She made her way to the ladder.

"Wait, can you route the hose from the spigot through the pool pump?"

"Sure... why? I thought you wanted to be all water."

Jordan vigorously nodded, somehow causing her saggy top to jiggle more than it would have if it were as taut as before. "I do, but I was thinking and one: you didn't get to see spherical me, two: the feeling of the water hitting my insides feels better with the pump on than just swallowing slow water, and three:... bubbles."

At this, Jordan's belly shivered, though with the way her skin looked now, her sides shivering just made the water inside her more apparent, her top, flappy skin tossing in the current like a tarp on the ocean.

"Tell ya what: I'll get you the normal hose, then I'll grab some breakfast, come out here, and watch you have a ball."

"Be a ball, but you were close. Oh, and can you bring my laptop down with you? By the time I get spherical, it'll slide right off of me."

Flora picked up the laptop from where it was wedged underneath a skin fold, descended the ladder, walked over to the spigot, and turned on the hose. She walked back to the front of her friend and started swinging the hose. "Hose ahoy!"

"Aye aye!" Jordan caught the hose just before it smacked into her fleshy top. She then unscrewed the attachment to let the flow pump out cool, refreshing well water and plopped it in her mouth. She gave Flora a thumbs up, which Flora returned with a smirk before heading inside.

Flora had planned on having an omelet and toast, but with her friend filling up outside and her brain unable to do the calculations on how long it'd take her to bust through the wall if left unsupervised, she opted for Cinnamon Toast Crunch and a cup of coffee. While she had the presence of mind, she grabbed the remaining sunscreen. There was only 1 bottle left. She'd need to get shopping today.

As Flora emerged from the back door with her cereal bowl and mug, she was greeted to quite the sight. This seemed to be a pattern. 

At first, Jordan appeared to be deep throating the hose, pulling it in and out of her mouth by the matter of a few feet each time. Flora knew Jordan hadn't had a date in a while, but this was something else. Besides, there was no chance the hose would call her later. As she grabbed the remaining, intact pool chair and walked around to Jordan's front side, she saw what was really happening. As Jordan pulled the hose into her throat, it descended into her massive stomach. At first, Flora assumed it was an optical illusion and the hose just wasn't as long as she thought, but sure enough, she saw a small blip against her friend's right side, resulting in a tiny ping against her side. With a bit more pushing, the blip took on the appearance of the end of the hose, pushed tight against the inside of Jordan's mass. She then twisted the hose this way or that to drag the hose tip along her insides, moving the circular indentation left and right, up and down, to trace a lazy pattern. After a minute or two of staring in awe, Flora looked up and saw Jordan's right leg kicking lightly against her top, sending waves across her loose top skin. The waves were strong enough to lift Jordan's main body up with them, which subsequently caused the hose to continue its journey further along the right side, to her front, and even up against her top. 

Flora may not have broken out of her stupor had she not realized her cereal would become soggy. "Having fun are we?"

Jordan looked down to her friend, a much easier feat now that she'd lost 2 feet of height, like a deer in the headlights. She began pulling the hose from her throat and set it on top of her mass, spewing water to collect in her folds. "Oh, Flora-um.... Hi!"

"You don't have to explain anything."

"No, see, this was actually very innocent! I started by just opening my throat like I did with the pump since, hey, why not? No time wasted swallowing."

"Your new motto?"

"Ha. Ha. Anyway, while I was filling up, a bird landed on me. Well, that scared me to death! So much so that the hose went down my throat. Well, since it was open and my stomach just opens up right at the end of my throat, it just sort of... went down there. And I noticed, ya know, this is cooling me off much more quickly than before! I mean, initially, the cold just sat right next to my body instead of getting around everywhere. But with it a few feet in me, I felt the cold toward my sides and my bottom. So I thought, hey, what's a few more feet?"

"Naturally."

"Right? So I'm putting in more hose and then I feel it. It hit the bottom. And... well, I thought I was gonna swallow the entire hose right up to the spigot cuz it felt so... good!" Jordan's entire form twitched, letting the small pool forming on her top slosh with the vibrations. "It's like... I don't even know. It's almost as good as the bubbles, but it's this cool, metal end of a garden hose, so it's more... substantial. Like someone's scratching an itch on the inside. I even did manage to scratch a few itches in there cuz, you may not realize it, being, well, not full of water, but bellies can get quite itchy! I'd been trying to ignore some of those for hours! So I just played around a bit, moved it this way and that. And then... well, then you showed up."

Flora had practically finished her cereal by the time Jordan recounted her tawdry tale. "Yes, how prudish of me. Don't let me stop... whatever the hell that was."

Jordan shrugged. "OK." She grabbed the hose and began to jam it down her throat once more.

"I was being facetious!"

Jordan side-eyed her and took the hose out just enough to talk. "What's that mean?"

"It means get the hose out of your stomach so we can get this show on the road."

"Show? Do you have a projector out here? That's a good idea.... I have to get on Amaz-"

"No. I mean, let's *clap* pump you up!"

"Flora, the kids won't even get that reference."

Flora walked over to the pump and attached another hose. "What kids? Anyway, don't you wanna show me how big you can get?"

Jordan rubbed her hands together gleefully. "Oh, yes! And I'm ready to not look like a scrotum."

"Aren't we all? Now-" Flora tossed the hose attached to the pump up to her roommate. "You take that and throw me the other one."

Jordan did just that and Flora caught it. Of course, she hadn't considered the fact it had just been through her friend's throat, so it was slimier than she expected. "I immediately regret this decision."

"Are you gonna exclusively do old references today?"

Flora attached the gross hose to the spigot and brought the other end to the pump. "Now, this is pretty much the same as last time, except the water's coming from the spigot, not the pool. You'll have to tell me if it feels any different since there's no chlorine this time. Which, by the way... you haven't had any problems with that, right?"

"Nope! Right as rain up here. Oh, before I forget, do me a favor and take a photo of me when I reach critical mass." Jordan tossed her phone down to Flora.

"If by critical mass, you mean, exactly as big as you were before, then yes. Oh, and I forgot something, too. Be right back."

Flora ran to the garage and emerged soon after with a can of neon orange spray paint. Jordan's front side flinched. "I'm not looking for a paint job."

"Why not? I do great body work."

Jordan faceplanted into her front. Flora knelt toward the ground. "Everyone's a critic. Anyway, I want to mark your circumference as it is right now so I can tell once you're as big of a sphere as we want you."

Jordan raised her finger and opened her mouth. Flora beat her to it. "As big as I want you. Like I said, I used a jack and a chainsaw yesterday, but I'm not licensed to fix our wall if you crash through it."

Jordan frowned and leaned forward. "Come on! I wanna get big again!"

"Hold your horses. Let me get the spray paint down."

Flora sprayed along the edge of her friend's body onto the grass. A few times, the wind blew a small amount of spray paint onto Jordan's bottom edge, causing a light, ticklish jiggle at the spot. "Shhh! Flora, that's cold! And does that stuff come off?"

"I'm sure it will!" she replied as she finished up the right side. She muttered, "Eventually."

"What?"

"Nothing! Alright, I'm done. Heh, imagine if this was your body outline on one of those crime shows."

"They'll need to make an outline for you if you don't HURRY UP AND FILL ME!"

Flora walked back to the pump. "I know, I know. Oh, one last thing."

"What?!"

"Can I... can I poke you when you finish?"

"Um... why?"

"What do you mean why? I've been slapping and poking you silly since you got this big."

"I know, but... I mean those other times were if you were messing with me or fell over onto me or were comforting me. You've never done it for... for...."

"For what?"

Jordan looked down at Flora with a tear in her eye. "Nothing. Never mind. Yes, you can poke me. Just try to give me a heads up first. With all the pressure in me, if you go poking me without me knowing you're gonna do it, I might just release all the air too early. I wanna enjoy it a bit longer than I did last time."

"Will do, good buddy. Now, you're sure you're ready?"

Jordan grabbed the hose on top of her belly and held it near her mouth. "Ready, Freddie!" She stuffed the hose down her throat as far as she could.

Flora put her finger near the pump's switch and looked back to her best friend. "Here goes nothing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is almost surely the grossest this fic is gonna get. I don't even have a thing for bugs; this just sort of seemed like something that would happen. I didn't tag it with vomiting just because it's not strictly vomit and it's such a small part of the chapter. Also, I know the original story mentioned paying a water bill and this chapter mentions well water, but I refuse to allow Jordan to imbibe city water. Pool water: yes. City water: no.
> 
> Also, more cliffhangers because this chapter was getting long and I'm feeling cheeky.


	8. Pumped Up 2: Electric Boogaloo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan and Flora learn that what comes up doesn't always quite come down.

As soon as Flora flipped the switch on the pool pump, the noise of rushing water filling a large container sounded across the yard. Blessedly, it wasn't loud enough to alert their only neighbors a few houses down, but it was still much louder than expected. Flora approached Jordan with her eyebrows raised, trying to determine the source. "Hmm, yesterday, you didn't make a peep when you filled up, but now you're pretty boisterous. I wonder why."

Jordan really did try to pay attention to her friend's question; however, the sound of the rushing water filling her saggy bulk drowned out Flora's voice. Besides, the exquisite feeling of pressurized water blasting her insides like the world's strongest jetted tub made any questions of how or why irrelevant. She was confident if Flora had peeked around toward the back of her bulk, she'd see a dimple of flesh roughly 2 feet around pushing out from the force of the water shooting against it. She didn't want to seem rude, so she opted to watch Flora approach her slowly growing mass as if she had any idea what she was saying.

Flora pressed both her hands against her friend and placed her ear against the skin. Sure enough, the sound inside her was much louder than what managed to escape the expanding stomach. It sounded like filling a bucket with a hose on full blast, though at an exponentially greater volume. Flora walked back to Jordan's sightline. "I think I know why you're louder this time."

Jordan's blissed out expression remained the same. Flora took the hint that the louder sound was preventing her roommate from hearing her explanation about said sound. She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled "I said I think I know why you're louder!"

Jordan still couldn't care less about explanations with how she was feeling, but she raised her eyebrows. 

"Before, the water was making your stomach bigger as it came in. You were stretching around it to accommodate, so there was no room for the spray to make a sound. Now, you have those... folds, so there's a good bit of space inside you to echo the sound of the water. It's sort of like the popping bubbles. You have to have an air pocket somewhere for there to be noise we can hear."

Jordan had zoned out less than halfway through the theorizing, but she managed a quick nod when she hear Flora stop speaking.

"You didn't hear a word I said, did you?" Flora yelled up.

Jordan assumed this was more of the explanation and merely nodded slowly.

"I'm going to put a ferret in your ass." 

Jordan gave Flora a thumbs up and nodded.

"Why do I even bother?" Flora said to herself.

With that, Flora folded out the pool chair and plopped herself down in front of her friend. She figured if it took 30 minutes to get Jordan 15 feet high yesterday and she was already 7 feet tall now, she had 16 minutes to kill until she needed to turn off the pump. She grabbed her phone from her pocket and began playing Level 2498 of the latest Match 3 game.

For her part, Jordan was in heaven. Somehow the feeling of being pumped full of water and air was even better than yesterday. She distantly recalled Flora saying something about the air pocket and 2 deflated feet of her affecting how she filled up and decided that must be it. The last time she'd grown, she'd experienced the delightful sensation of her skin stretching and somehow growing to accommodate its new contents. Now, she had some space already available. This let her feel the spray of the hose as it hit the pool water already inside her and sprayed up onto her empty top and sides. She was effectively getting misted with water from the inside, like being tickled by a spray bottle. Her vision blurred as the resulting seismic twitches this issued along her top caused her main body to rock back and forth like sitting on a surfboard in the ocean.

After beating 3 levels of her mobile game, Flora noticed the sound of rushing water taper off fairly quickly. At first, she feared their well might've dried up, but a quick look up confirmed this wasn't the case as Jordan wasn't currently berating her. The water line had finally hit Jordan's top skin. Flora thought to check on the air pocket, assuming it would now be back to the same shape it was prior to Jordan's nighttime purge. As she rounded her side, however, she noticed the air pocket was nowhere to be found. She returned to Jordan's front to deliver the news. "Hey, no more pocket apparently!"

Jordan managed to catch this and tilted her eyebrow. 

"Yeah, I'm not exactly sure why. I mean, you haven't let out any water or air since you started filling back up.... Have you?"

Jordan shook her head as vigorously as she dared with a hose down her throat.

"Hmm... you know, the air that was in the pocket must still be in you somewhere. Maybe since all this new water and air's coming in, it just got mixed up in all the commotion. It's redistributed so to speak."

Jordan lifted smiled as much as she could around the hose. Flora seemed to catch on. "Oh, yeah, I knew your belly was red for a reason! I mean, we are supporting the masses, huh?" Flora said as she tapped her roommate's belly. 

Jordan gripped the end of the hose around her mouth and pointed at Flora, frowning slightly. 

"Hmm? Oh, shit, I guess I shouldn't make you laugh! Sorry! I'll let you fill up in silence."

Just as Flora was about to sit back down, she noticed Jordan look down to her front with wide eyes. She laid the hand not grasping the hose gently onto her top as if in reverence. 

"What? Is something wrong?"

Jordan looked down to Flora for a split second, then back to her top, moving her eyes across as much of her front as she could without turning her head. Then, it dawned on Flora. "Oh, you got your skin back! Well, not your skin. Your... tautness, I guess. Awesome!"

A tear came to Jordan's eye at the feeling of being herself again. The last several hours had been rough. While she hid some of her anxiety under a veneer of humor, she really had felt disgusting with her saggy skin and shorter stature. She faintly wondered if this was what aging felt like.

Flora smiled at her friend's newfound confidence and sat down once again. Just as she was about to start another level of gem-matching, she heard a car pull up in the driveway. Shit, was this her mom, one of her friends, a neighbor who'd heard a chainsaw followed by the loud smack of skin-on-skin yesterday and decided to take a peek? 

She quickly stood up, held up her index finger to Jordan as a way of saying both "wait a minute" and "don't you fuck this up," and ran around to the front of the house.

Thankfully, Jordan had managed to start her growth spurt yesterday in such a way that her bulk was unseen from most of the front yard. If you happened to stand on the northmost side of the front yard, you would catch a tiny sliver of now 8 foot tall skin that would likely cause some alarm, but otherwise, the massive belly was concealed. As Flora rounded the side of the house to the front yard, she saw a UPS truck just turning out of the driveway and onto the road. She turned toward the front door, confused as she hadn't ordered anything lately. By the door sat 4 large boxes, each about as large as Flora could carry in terms of volume. She went to pick one up and found it weighed nearly 40 pounds. While she was no weakling, this was certainly more than she expected to carry at the moment. 

She quickly calculated how long she had to bring the boxes inside before her friend reached the desired 15 foot height. With roughly 14 minutes to go, she started carrying the boxes inside. Once they were all in, she opened one up with a pair of scissors. Under a packing slip indicating this was Jordan's doing, she found the box was fit to bursting with bug repellent. Of course, in Jordan's infinite wisdom, she had bought exclusively travel-size cans. Flora groaned at the knowledge that it'd take probably 1 box-worth of these tiny cans to coat her friend to her satisfaction. Then again, based on the order date on the packing slip, Jordan must have ordered these immediately after last night's bug incident, meaning this was probably the mother of all impulse buys. She could just imagine her laying atop her top, folds and all, silently buying as much bug repellent as she could find to be delivered same day, silently crying while her roommate slept on top of her.

Flora went out the back door to announce the delivery to Jordan. She couldn't help but gasp at the sight of her roommate's form. Just as she'd said, her width was still sitting pretty at 15 feet, the orange circle in the grass still just as visible as before the pump was turned on. Her top was slowly but surely rising toward the sky, now 11 feet high. And, sure enough, her form seemed to be shaping up into the beginnings of a sphere. While her belly wasn't quite a sphere yet, her top wasn't uniformly rising. The area that could roughly be called Jordan's top was now much smaller than before: perhaps 6 feet across. The area previously defined as her edges barely qualified as edges anymore. Her edge before had only a slight taper to it before plunging down in a slightly curved wall to the ground below. Now, it was quite sloped, gradually flattening out until connecting to Jordan's main body.

Jordan had risen another foot or so before Flora could manage to get a word out. "Your bug spray came."

Jordan looked down at Flora and seemed to realize just how high up she was, smiling as much as possible around the hose trailing from her mouth. Flora walked back to Jordan's front and realized the way her form was quickly becoming spherical meant it was impossible for Jordan to see her from close to her belly. She'd have to back up quite a way to be able to see her face. Still, before she stepped back to wave at her, she approached her gigantic side and poked the growing beast. There was almost no give due to the sheer amount of air contained within it. Flora noticed the skin within a 2 foot radius of where she poked seemed to give a small, quick shake. It wasn't even a quiver; just a slight indication of movement. At first, Flora was puzzled by this movement, but then it occurred to her that her friend's mass surely couldn't twitch and jiggle anymore when placed under this pressure. Any sensations felt on her skin still resulted in the same type of expression; the twinge that would normally cause a jiggle merely imparted a slight blip against her skin.

Flora stepped back several feet to take in her friend's growing bulk. Jordan was nearing the 15 foot mark and, as she did so, her main body was having difficulty finding purchase. She no longer had an area that could be called her top. She was all slope at this point, with only the smallest area at her crest where her mammoth belly connected to her torso. Jordan started balancing her main body with her feet pressed against her back slope and 1 of her hands supporting her against her front slope. She frequently had to switch which arm held the hose and which held her body up as the one supporting her body grew tired.

Finally, Flora saw the neon orange outline on the grass start to disappear beneath her friend's bottom. She ran to the pump and switched it off, then unscrewed the hose going from the pump to the spigot. She looked up to Jordan to see what she would do.

Jordan seemed to wake from a trance the moment the pump stopped. The past several minutes had been more of the comforting, stretching feeling she'd experienced yesterday afternoon. She was finally sufficiently cooled off and hoped it wouldn't get as hot today so she could retain the cold feeling against her insides a bit longer. As soon as she knew the pump was turned off, she quickly used the same trick she'd taken advantage of yesterday to pull on the remaining water in the hose with all her might, sending it pouring straight down her spherical belly through the feet of air inside her to hit her water line feet below. She thrilled when she heard this last gulp crash into the water already inside her, the trickle echoing inside her voluminous body. Even Flora could hear the sound of this final drink splash into the water line as it echoed within her massive friend.

Once this remaining water was imbibed, she quickly closed her mouth and let the hose drop to the ground. Her left arm gave out and the top half of her main body hung slightly toward her front slope. She was balanced on the area where her belly connected to her main body, her spine being her highest point. She lazily trailed her feet against her back slope, tickling herself with her toenails and lightly kicking against her belly. She reveled in hearing the thumping noise that managed to be audible both outside her body and through the cavernous air pocket inside her. It sounded exactly like a punted kickball.

Flora wanted to run up and poke Jordan right away, but she remembered her promise and held up her friend's phone. "Say cheese!" she yelled.

Jordan didn't so much as look up on account of the numerous competing sensations running through and inside her body. For starters, several bubbles the size of her head were making their way from where they'd collected along her bottom and sides to zip up to the water line and pop, releasing yet more pressure into her cathedral-like top. Meanwhile, the water that had forced its way into her was still swirling around her bottom in various competing currents, causing waves to form and crash against her sides. As tight as her skin was, it didn't jiggle at these impacts, but her nerves didn't seem to care and flared up just as much as when she did, resulting in her body issuing a near-constant, imperceptible vibration. And, of course, all these bubbles and waves made popping, fizzing, and crashing sounds that pealed within her skin, audible to both the outside world and through her own ears, much like hearing your own heartbeat when your heart is pounding. With all these feelings within and without her, it was no wonder Jordan barely noticed Flora's presence below her.

Flora seemed to realize there was no getting through to her roommate, so she quickly backed up several feet to capture Jordan's gargantuan, 15-foot frame in 1 photo and took the shot. She thought about getting different angles, but with no freckles or scars across the entire belly, she figured once you'd seen one side, you'd seen them all.

Flora approached Jordan's front to the area where she figured she could see her. She wanted to let Jordan enjoy her reclaimed size as long as possible, but she also wanted to get her promised poke at the monster before her. "Jordan?"

Jordan looked down with hazy eyes. The full body sensations going on within her made focusing on much else difficult to say the least. She raised her eyebrows.

"Um, Jordan?"

Jordan's eyes cleared slightly when she discovered Flora wasn't taking the hint. She pointed to her mouth, then in a circle to her massive belly.

"OH! Right. I guess the need to burp right now is pretty urgent. If you tried to talk, you probably couldn't stop yourself."

Jordan nodded and began drumming on her front with her dangling hands, sounding like the world's deepest bongo.

"Would you mind if I poke you now?"

Jordan looked at her quizzically. "What...? Oh, you're probably wondering why I poked you before but I'm still asking you now. I had planned on just poking after you finished filling up. You know, testing the final product. But... I just couldn't help myself! I wanted to see if you were really as tight as you looked or if you were still your squishy self. So... can I tap that?"

Jordan smiled and gestured Flora to approach her mass, which Flora did in a bound. She poked her friend's belly and found it somehow even tighter than on her previous poke. It was effectively a solid, skin-covered ball. "Wow...! The pressure in you must be... crazy! And- wait-"

Being this close to Jordan's bulk, she heard a faint sound issuing from the taut skin. "I hear something in you. I'm gonna take a listen if that's OK?"

Jordan hummed her consent. At first, Flora was surprised she could hear it considering Jordan was seated 10 feet above her head with a waterlogged belly in the way, but then she realized where she heard the hum from. When Jordan hummed, the sound came out the normal way- right next to her mouth on the outside- and into the massive air space in her top section. Since her throat opened up to her belly with no impediment, any sound her throat made also played within the air inside her, subsequently vibrating along the skin enclosing it like a giant speaker made of skin. As impressed as Flora was, she finally put her ear to her friend's belly to hear what initially sparked her curiosity.

Inside her friend, a cacophony of fizzing and rushing water burbled. Some of the larger bubbles that were just finishing flying off of her bottom skin also popped as Flora listened in. "This must be the bubbles. The water and air come in together, then when the water stops, the air trapped in the water gets released into your top through popping bubbles. And, presumably, just like before, some of the bubbles are sticking against your sides. That must feel great based on how you acted before!"

Once again, Jordan hummed a yes through her skin. Flora could actually feel the vibrations against her ear as she was still pressed against her friend. Then, she heard a slightly more urgent hum.

Flora quickly backed up to where Jordan could see her. If there was a problem, it could be catastrophic. "What is it?"

Jordan placed her hand over her mouth and pointed to Flora desperately. "You want me to shut up?"

Jordan shook her head vehemently and placed her hands back against her side. She then mimed holding something between her index finger and thumb and pulling it across her mouth. "That just looks like 'zip it.' Come on, work with me!"

Jordan slumped forward on her frame and kicked hard against her back slope in frustration, issuing a deep thump even Flora could hear. Then, she sat up as much as possible in triumph. Jordan took her right index finger and dragged it across her frame, spelling out the letter "D." Of course, she did so in such a way that Flora could read it as a "D," while to her, it was flipped upside down.

"'D'? I know you want the D, Jordan, but I don't think anyone wants to fuck you if they need a cherry picker to do so."

Jordan rolled her eyes and spelled out "U."

"I don't want the D at the moment. I'm too busy babysitting a giant belly."

Jordan smacked her front in frustration. She wrote "C" across herself.

"Oh, you're spelling a whole word! Well, that makes more sense. OK, finish up."

Flora watched as the letters came together. "D" "U" "C" "T" "T" "A" "P" "E."

"Duck-tuh-pay? What the hell is- OH! No problem. Hold on!"

Jordan literally hung on by the skin of her belly, her main body draped over it like she'd landed belly first onto the world's largest volleyball. She tried to ignore the desire within her to rid herself of the air pressing against her throat. While her bottom section full of water was technically just as pressurized as the top, it felt more stable. The air toward her top wanted sweet freedom and fought against her will to hold it in. The more the bubbles popped through the water line to release their load into her top section, the greater the pressure built. She knew she could contain it; since she hadn't burst at this stage yesterday or today, this was a manageable amount of pressure for her skin. But her throat was only so strong against such a force. If she physically blocked her throat with duct tape, once her throat gave out, she could stay full as long as she wished.

Flora returned with the duct tape, but realized they were at an impasse. The ladder she'd used to scale her friend earlier topped out at Jordan's previous height of 9 feet. With her now seated 15 feet above the ground, Flora couldn't reach Jordan's mouth even if she stood at the very top of the ladder. "Jordan, I can't reach you on the ladder anymore!"

Jordan punched her stomach in frustration. "I got an idea though!"

Flora pulled enough duct tape out from the roll to cover her mouth and tore partway down the end with her teeth, leaving it still slightly connected to the roll. "I'm gonna try to throw this to you. You just need to catch it. You can tear off the rest with your hand."

Jordan held out her hands and hoped this would work. She could tell she didn't have much longer before the pressure became too much to handle. She began desperately attempting to soothe herself by rubbing her feet more gently against her back slope, up as far they would go to either side. She figured the sensation may take her focus away from the pressure built against her throat. Flora lobbed the roll of tape as hard as she could into the air.

Despite being a couch and now yard potato, Jordan managed to catch the duct tape, though only just. Flora had managed to get it only as high as Jordan's hands, so it was close to bouncing off her side to the ground below. Quickly, she yanked at the piece hanging off the main roll and struggled to tear it off. It wasn't nearly as clean a break as the part torn by Flora's teeth, but it'd have to do. Jordan smacked the tape against her mouth, pressing as hard as she could to ensure the seal was airtight. The last thing she wanted was a slow leak. After a stress-filled minute of pushing the tape to her mouth and rubbing her feet against her sides as a soothing distraction, Jordan's throat finally gave out against the air.

The feeling of her throat and mouth filling with air in a split second caused Jordan's eyes to bug out. The duct tape managed to hold against the pressure as her mouth and lips were closed, meaning relatively little air even approached the tape itself. Jordan sighed through her nose and rubbed her hands against her bulk in joy. She could stay bigger for longer.

Comforted in the knowledge the coast was clear, Flora once more approached Jordan's side. "I bet you're glad I can think on my feet, huh?"

Jordan's hum of agreement echoed through her air chamber once again. "Oh, you're humming again? I guess now that there's no threat of leakage, you can hum safely again."

Jordan hummed even louder this time as if relishing in her regained ability. The vibrations were actually visible on the areas of her skin touched by the air inside her. It was this that caused Flora to frown.

"Um, I need to check something out. Two seconds."

Jordan frowned, but figured as long as she was as tall as her house, nothing that bad could have happened. She closed her eyes and lazily traced patterns against her front while itching a patch of skin on her back previously occupied by a fly. She was awoken from her daze by the feeling of the metal ladder resting against one of her sides. This time of course, it only reached a little more than half way up her belly. She turned toward the disruption, but found she couldn't see that far around her skin. She issued a questioning hum.

Flora reached the top of the ladder and flicked her fingers against the skin before her. It issued a quiet, dull thumping noise. The skin didn't move a bit at her touch. Holding herself against her roommate's bulk, she carefully stood on top of the top rung. She then flicked her fingers against this section of skin. It made the same kickball-like sound as Jordan's kicks created, only deeper. As if to double-check, Flora also bopped her side with the palm of her hand. The skin vibrated slightly at the tap. "Shit."

Jordan questioningly hummed as Flora began to descend the ladder. "So in my quest to get you back to your house-sized self and then back to norm- well, your new normal-I may have neglected to consider your rate of growth and how you'd grow."

Jordan was quickly running out of ways to hum that indicated anything other than "what" and "yes." Still, she made a noise that seemed to suggest "proceed."

Flora returned to where Jordan could see her. "See, when we started the pump today, you were at 7 feet. You were 9 feet tall yesterday and the... waterfall incident brought you down to 7 feet. I figured I'd get you to 15 feet, you'd burp off 6 feet like you did yesterday, no biggy. But it turns out, slight biggy. Because I didn't consider that you started out this fill-up already sitting at 7 feet. See, yesterday, you went from 0 to 9. Well, 0 to 15, then you burped off 6 feet."

Jordan's head was beginning to spin and it wasn't from the several cubic yards of air inside her.

"So, if you calculate that out, that means 40% of the height you gained was air, give or take the small amount in that air pocket you had. Since we used the same pump to get the water into you today, the ratio of water to air going in you is the same as yesterday. When you hum, I saw the top part of you vibrate, but not the bottom. So I guessed only the parts of you with air were vibrating. And I noticed that part was higher up than 9 feet, which is where it should start if the watery part of you was only 9 feet tall. When I tapped you there, I confirmed it. Since you started at 7 feet of water when we started, you're 15 feet high now, and 60% of what went into you is water, your water line is now sitting at... almost 12 feet. Well, 11 feet 9 inches, but who's counting?"

Jordan pointed at Flora.

"Yes, I am counting. Because once again my friend is getting much bigger than she should be and sunscreen and bug spray don't grow on trees."

Flora's eyes lit up. "Oh, and speaking of your vast bigness, I need to test something before you shrink down. One sec!"

Flora ran inside for five seconds and rushed back out to the ladder holding a tiny something in her hand. Jordan hummed questioningly as the ladder was propped against her side again. "You know, on second thought, this might work better on the front. That way you can see the result, too."

Instead of carrying the ladder over, Flora simply slide it along Jordan's bulk toward the front, causing a pleasurable hum to echo through her skin and slightly vibrate the ladder. Once it was in position, Flora climbed it to the very top rung again. At this height, she could just about touch the part of Jordan that started narrowing toward her main body at the top. Grabbing the Sharpie she'd brought with her, Flora laid a hand against her roommate's belly and traced it. Jordan's skin started pinging at the spot, indicating the felt pen tip was quite ticklish.

"See, I figure this'll prove whether you're really losing skin when you shrink. If my hand tracing is smaller once you're smaller, it means you really do cinch up like you said."

Jordan shrugged as Flora descended her belly and laid the ladder down. "You know, now that we're on the topic of your size, you lied to me."

Jordan tilted her head.

"You said you were a sphere before."

Jordan hummed a yes and nodded.

Flora walked up to Jordan's front and knelt beside it, running her finger along the bottom edge. "Then what's this? Your bottom is still flat against the ground. You're more of a truffle than a sphere."

Jordan mimed an apple falling to the ground. "Thanks, Newton. I know what gravity is. I just figured when you said you were a sphere, you meant it."

Jordan tilted her hand back and forth. "Yeah, I guess it's close enough. Except for the bottom, you're pretty spherical alright. And speaking of spheres, I think it's about time to get you back to a manageable size before the sphere our planet revolves around burns you to a crisp."

Jordan looked concerned and worriedly looked toward the sky. "I mean, we need to get you back to the point where I can spray you down with sunscreen. I can't hope to reach much of the top of you like this and that's the most vulnerable par- Fuck!"

A panicked hum rocked across the airy top of Jordan. "We only have 1 bottle left! Did you order more of that?"

Jordan shook her head and put her head in her hands. "Damn it! I need to go to the store and buy every bottle they have! In the meantime, why don't you start letting loose?"

Jordan gave her saddest puppy expression. "Don't you even! You've had much longer than 10 seconds to enjoy yourself. Think of it this way: if you don't shrink, I can't sleep on you."

With a speed she didn't know she had, Jordan ripped the duct tape from her mouth. And then, all hell broke loose. 


	9. Winds of Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan braves the elements

It seemed as if Jordan had picked the worst possible moment to start releasing the air from her pressurized body. Naturally, the initial shock came from ripping the duct tape from her mouth. Mercifully, she didn't draw any blood, but it stung something fierce and left a small rectangle of skin around her lips as well as her lips themselves red and inflamed. As if to add insult to injury, the morning sun chose just this moment to peek out from behind a cloud, shining directly into Jordan's eyes, temporarily blinding her as the burp began to issue from her throat. Then, to add an injury to the insult that was already sitting on top of the other injury, the weatherman Flora had counted on appeared to be wrong.

From behind Jordan's bulk, a streak of lightning flashed across the sky. Flora had 3 seconds to gasp and start gathering her phone and empty cereal bowl before the resulting thunder shook the landscape. The trembling ground shook the water within Jordan's bulk slightly; not quite enough to dislodge any bubbles, but enough to set fear in her heart. Meanwhile, Flora finished bringing her pool chair, coffee mug, and other sundries inside through the back door. Just as she was about to close the door, she heard a loud coughing behind her. She quickly turned around to face her only slightly shorter friend.

Jordan was holding onto her front slope, as if trying to hold herself together. She glared at Flora. "And j-BURP-just what am I-BURP-supposed to do? BURP"

Flora jumped at the sound of her friend's voice. Besides the fact she assumed she'd be incapable of speech until she was fully water once again, the sound of her voice was terrifying. It seemed the same properties within her cavernous top section that let her humming resonate down to Flora's level also affected her voice. Namely, it acted like an echo chamber while also greatly deepening her voice. She sounded like James Earl Jones with a cold in a warehouse. Her own voice seemed to take her aback, too, as she struggled to speak.

"You can talk like that?! I thought once it started, it wouldn't stop til you were empty?"

Jordan briefly managed to quell the burping again, though it looked like it pained her to keep the air from escaping. "Hard-BURP-but I can try. BURP-What do I d-BURP"

Another rumble of thunder boomed and a few heavy raindrops began to fall. Flora looked around the yard as if she could suddenly find a spare lightning rod laying around to protect her roommate from the storm. "I-I don't know.... You're the tallest thing around here! Oh, fuck!"

Jordan meanwhile continued to burp, though she kept trying to stop herself long enough to speak. She'd only lost a few inches since the tape came off. "Fl-BURP-Flora, throw me-BURP-a rope."

Flora stared at her friend for a second. "The wind won't blow you around. You sh-"

"Get-BURP-me rope!"

Flora decided to stop questioning her and ran to the garage to grab some hemp rope. She figured if she'd had most of the inventive ideas in the last day, it was surely Jordan's time to shine. She rushed back to Jordan just as the wind started picking up and another lightning bolt hit the ground a mile away. "What should I d-"

"Thr-BURP-Throw it!"

Flora tried to throw the rope to her overhand, but it merely landed against Jordan's side and slid to the ground below. She quickly tied the end of the rope around her coffee mug's handle and lobbed the mug up to Jordan's waiting hands. Still releasing the pent up air, Jordan swiftly untied the rope from the mug and dropped the mug to the ground. Flora watched as the mug hit the ground below her and shattered. Jordan faintly felt a ceramic shard graze her side near the bottom. For a split second, she feared this was it; that the storm wouldn't be her end, but a nick from a damn coffee mug. After not feeling tons of water spewing out of her, she assumed she was still intact and began what she'd set out to do.

Leaning up as far as she could to allow her room to work, she pulled the rope around the section of her torso that connected to her mass. Currently, it was pretty taut with air rushing past it and out of her mouth. Closing her eyes and steeling herself for some pain, she worked the muscles of her throat and stomach to close off her main body from her stomach, at least temporarily. It felt like holding back vomit, like defying everything her body told her she needed to do. The muscles fought against her brain's instructions to shut, clench, close, cut off. Then, she felt it. The muscles were as contracted as they could be, though they spasmed with the desire for release. 

As quickly as she dared, she tied the rope around the connection as tightly as she could. The hemp rope felt scratchy and the force it exerted against her airway/waterway hurt more than she'd care to admit. But now she didn't need to burp. Now she could be a voice of reason. For once.

"Jordan, what are you doing?! You're gon-"

"Flora, listen, get ins-"

A flash of lightning followed one second later by a crash of thunder shook both of their bodies. "Get inside!"

"No! I won't leave you out here! You need to get the air out! You need to be as short as y-"

"I will! But get inside! You-"

Another thunderbolt crashed in the woods near the back of the property. "You won't help me by dying out here! Go inside! Save yourself!"

Flora wanted to run to her. She wanted to kiss her big, stupid side and tell her it'd be OK and she'd climb on top of her dumb back perched atop her damn belly if it meant protecting her. But she knew Jordan was right. Through the now driving rain, she ran to the back door. Somehow, over the wind, she heard Jordan's booming voice yell "I LOVE YOU!"

Flora opened the door, went inside, shouted "I LOVE YOU, TOO!" and slammed the door.

She rushed to the window closest to the door to stare at her friend. As many raindrops as were blowing against the window, she couldn't see Jordan staring at her, just a huge tan blob, but she somehow knew she was. Flora prayed harder than she ever had that Jordan's bizarre desires and her willingness to follow them hadn't damned them.

Meanwhile, outside, Jordan untied the rope from around the connection between her body and belly and let the rope drop down her wet side to the grass. She expected the powerful need to burp to return immediately. It didn't. It would seem her decision to sacrifice some deflating time to save her friend from herself had severely constricted her throat where it connected to her mass. Removing the rope left the area as closed off as it was before. She hurriedly massaged the connective area and tried to make herself burp. She still felt the air pressure pushing against the connection, demanding to shove past, but the inflamed bit of belly refused to cooperate. 

As the thunder clapped around her and the rain bounced off her belly and slid down her frame, she stared at the window. A faint human-shaped outline was barely visible through the sheets of rain. Flora was as close to her as she could safely be. Jordan slumped against her top and gave up on trying to burp. The pain from her skin rubbed raw and her pipeline constricted fought against the comfort that at least Flora wasn't sitting out here to die with her. When the lightning inevitably struck her body, at least Flora wouldn't be right beside her, cooked alongside her roommate.

Then, it happened.

When Jordan heard the thunder at the same moment she saw the intensely bright lightning, she assumed she'd been hit. There was only a moment for her to ponder that maybe the electricity had fried her brain enough that she simply couldn't feel the pain of such a horrifying way to go. Similarly, inside, Flora saw the flash and heard the crash and screamed, assuming the cracking noise she heard alongside the thunder was her friend's bones breaking at the heat and shock. She slumped to the floor and wept. The booming thunder shaking the house and turning off the power didn't even phase her anymore. Jordan was dead. What else could happen? What could she possibly fear?

\-----------------------------

Flora woke on the floor of her living room. Somehow, she would've preferred to wake up outside on top of her friend. It would mean everything was OK. That the storm hadn't happened. She no longer heard rain or thunder, just her own sniffling. After a minute or two of considering just staying on the floor til she starved, she slowly got up. 

She didn't immediately look out the window. She knew what she was going to see, but only in an abstract way. The actual notion of what she would see, not just who, was almost too much for her. Something told her to look though. Perhaps it was the idea that she would have to eventually. She'd have to... clean up the mess. Or find whatever authority would do so. And so she looked out the window.

And saw Jordan.

Not parts of Jordan. Not huge pieces of skin that were once part of Jordan. Just Jordan.

She wasn't moving, but Flora didn't see any blood. And when she stared a moment longer, she saw she was breathing.

Flora ran out the door and screamed, "JORDAN!"

For her part, Jordan looked up slightly. It was about all she felt safe doing at the moment. Because against her left side and nestled just against the back of her head was a tree.

It wasn't any taller than her previous peak of 15 feet, but since she'd got down to 14 before it hit her and its bark was just rough enough to concern a woman filled with water, she was positively petrified. "Jordan, you're OK!"

Flora hadn't seemed to notice the tree yet. To her credit, it was against Jordan's left side, so the only part she had a chance of seeing from this angle was part pushed against Jordan'd head. Jordan stared at Flora, somehow trying to communicate her dilemma.

"Are you OK?! What is it? What's wrong?"

Jordan flitted her eyes to her left side over and over, trying to guide Flora's eyes to the same spot. 

"What? What's over th- FUCK! Are you hurt?" Flora walked over to Jordan's side to see the tree. It had been about 7 feet away from Jordan's bulk when it was upright, but the lightning bolt that hit it split it down the middle, sending the jagged half closest to Jordan toppling to land on her belly. Its entire mass wasn't laying against Jordan; just the top. Flora looked at Jordan's left side as much as she could without getting too close. The tree, no longer seated in the earth, was only held at its diagonal angle by Jordan's top. She feared going anywhere near it in the event it suddenly crashed the rest of the way down. From what little of Jordan she could see, the only damage the tree had done so far was a gash on her head and a 5 foot long scratch down her left side. The scratch started higher on her body and stopped where a sharp piece of splintered wood still poked against her side. The closer to the piece of wood the scratch was, the deeper the red until right next to it, it had drawn blood.

"Jordan, oh, shit! I'm so sorry! Are you OK?"

Jordan stared at Flora. "Jordan, can you hear me?"

Jordan blinked once.

"OK, I guess you can hear me. Can you talk?"

Jordan blinked twice.

"You can't?! Oh, damn it! How can I get you to a hospital like this?"

Jordan blinked twice.

"Jordan, if you can't talk, you probably have brain damage! You need to g-"

Jordan blinked twice again and looked pointedly down at her belly.

"What is it...? You-wait, your belly? You're still almost as high as you got yesterd- Do you still need to burp?"

Jordan blinked once.

"OK, then, go ahead an- No, wait! If you shrink, the branch will go into your s- FUCK! Don't burp! OK, do not burp no matter what!"

Jordan blinked once and a tear dropped from her eye. She wanted to wipe it away or wave Flora over or write I LOVE YOU on her massive belly, but she was terrified any movement besides that of her eyes would jostle the tree and tear through her.

Flora had been quite inventive in the past day, but those situations hadn't been life and death. Even Jordan's belly being stuck in the pool hadn't been that dangerous. She knew any harebrained scheme to just tie a rope around the tree and pull it with her car could quickly end in disaster if the tree moved just the wrong way. There were no do-overs.

It didn't take long to find the best solution to the problem, but it wasn't amazing. "We need to get some people over here to try to lift the tree off you."

Jordan's eyes bugged out and she blinked twice. 

"I know, you don't want people to see you like... this. But there's nothing else to do! I thought about getting a backhoe and moving it that way, but any vibrations from a machine or truck coming up to it could make it fall down. And I can't use the chainsaw on it cuz again, vibrations, but also, if I cut the wrong thing at the wrong time, part of the tree could h-hit you." 

Jordan looked away and blinked once.

"I'll get the strongest people we know. The ones with discretion. I'll make sure they won't tell anybody." Flora grabbed her phone and scrolled through her contacts, making one of the hardest decisions in her life for one of the strangest situations in her life. When she found the first person she knew she could trust, she looked up to Jordan, who was staring at her with the most desperate face she'd ever seen. It was a face of begging and terror and love. Flora never wanted to see that face on Jordan again.

"It'll be OK."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I didn't start out writing these intending for cliffhangers and drama, but they just happen! I'm pumping (hehe) these out every day or so and I'll ride it out til the hyperfixation is done or the ideas stop coming, but neither seems to be done quite yet.
> 
> Again, let me know if you have any suggestions!


	10. The Bark and the Bite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan and her friends attempt a life-or-death rescue.

When Kerry pulled up to Flora and Jordan's driveway, they weren't quite sure what to expect. All they'd heard was Flora frantically saying Jordan had had an accident and she needed help lifting a tree off of her. Luckily, he'd been on his way home from the office when he got the call, so he was close by. As he approached the house, it occurred to him that Jordan didn't own a car. She bummed rides off of Flora or called Lyft by and large, so how she managed to crash a car was beyond him. Still, they knew something had gone down and the women needed their help.

He got out of his truck and was greeted by Flora's slightly teary face. She was trying to keep it together in front of Jordan to help prevent her from freaking out, but the stress of the situation was getting to her. "Kerry! Thank you so much for coming!"

"It's no problem!" they said. "Where's the car? Do you need my chainsaw cuz I h-"

"Kerry... there is no car. You see, Jordan's-Jordan's been exploring her... interests lately and-and that's part of what caused the accident."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Flora considered herself a verbose woman. She'd been captain of her college's Debate Team. She could charm the pants off anyone. But she was at a loss to explain Jordan's current situation. "Jordan... Jordan was trying to-to cool off yesterday and... things got a tad out of hand and... when that storm came through.... I think you should see for yourself."

Kerry briefly considered they may be on some reboot of Candid Camera, but the sincerity and worry behind Flora's voice destroyed that thought. Flora began walking quickly around the side of the house, joined by a very confused Kerry. He walked past a sumac tree that had been split down the middle by a lightning bolt. One half was mostly upright and connected to the roots. "Now, Kerry, I need you to be supportive of Jordan. She can't talk and please don't scare her, OK? Please...."

"Of course! Of c-"

Kerry couldn't help but stare at the figure before him. He'd seen it plenty of times at parties and when they worked together at Don's Pizzeria in college. Her deep blue eyes were the same ones he'd admired across the crowded restaurant. Her belly wasn't. "Jordan?"

Jordan took one look at Kerry and immediately looked away in shame, trying not to cry. She couldn't afford to start sobbing, as it may shake her stomach enough to send her to an early grave. Kerry tried to take in as much of the scene as they could: the belly, the gash across Jordan's hair, the belly, the tree, the thick sliver of wood touching Jordan's side, the belly. It was very hard to get past the belly.

"I called two other people over to help us: Jordan's brother, Andrew, and my sister, Sara. They should be here soon. I'm gonna wait for them in the front. I-I need to show them back here when they get here. Can you... can you stay with her please?"

"Sure! We'll be fine here."

"Thanks. Just-just please don't touch anything, OK? It's-we can't let the tree move, OK?"

Kerry put their hand on Flora's shoulder. "I won't touch a thing."

Flora gave a quick look to Jordan and turned back toward the front yard.

Kerry turned back to Jordan, craning his head to look up at her face. He tried to smile enough to calm her, but not enough to seem fake in such a strange time. "Hi, Jordan..."

Jordan returned a slight smile. Once again, several competing sensations made it difficult for her to focus on the outside world. She preferred the day's earlier distractions to her current ones.

"It's gonna be fine. I've been lifting a bit since we left college, so I could probably take care of this myself." Kerry laughed.

Though he'd intended to calm Jordan with humor, her reaction was decidedly different. Her eyes bugged out and she blinked twice, hoping he could figure out 'once for yes, twice for no' as quickly as Flora had. "I was joking! Just joking! I'm waiting for everyone else! Sorry...."

Jordan calmed down and looked to her belly in front of her. She hadn't intended anyone but Flora to see her like this.

"Flora said you were... what was it, 'cooling off?' I guess you-did you use a hose or-"

Jordan looked to the destroyed pool to her right and Kerry's left. "Ah. Well, at least you don't have to clean it anymore, so... yeah."

Jordan gave a face that read "true."

"And next time, if you get a little closer to the house, you could probably clean the gutters while you're... up there... right?"

Jordan wanted desperately to smile, but she feared Kerry was being, what was the word Flora used earlier, facetious. That this was his way of mocking an impossibly bloated woman with bizarre kinks who couldn't even defend herself. She'd known Kerry for years, though they hadn't spoken in a while. She'd always known them to be friendly if not shy, but surely they weren't suggesting these things legitimately or even to break the ice. Surely, he was merely making fun of her for this ridiculous situation she'd gotten herself into.

"Um, let's see- oh, I finally got a job! I'm working at J-"

"Just show me where she is! If she got her foot stuck in a groundhog hole again, I'll-Fuck!"

Kerry turned around to see a tall, pale man with curly red hair in a ponytail stride through the side yard. "Jordan, what the hell is this shit? I'd had you pegged for being into weird sex shit. My friend Mark owes me $10."

Jordan quickly looked from the man, to the ground, then back again. He approached her side with a few steps, raising his hand out. Flora yelled, "STOP! Don't touch her! She's-"

"A dumbass! Well, fat ass, now. Always trying to get attention, huh?"

As the man made to touch as high as he could reach on the tree, Kerry grabbed his torso and shoved him back. "She said stay away! If it moves the wrong way... it won't be good."

Jordan was struggling to calm her breath. She wanted to yell at her brother to just shut up and be useful for once in his life, but she couldn't risk it. She was glad Kerry was there.

Andrew looked Kerry up and down, taking them in. He smirked. "I think I know my sister better than some man in my mom's pantsuit!"

Just as Kerry began to blush, Flora returned to the group with Sara. Sara, for her part, had a reaction somewhere inbetween Kerry's and Andrew's: total silence.

"OK, Sara's here, so let's figure this out."

Flora calmly approached the section of tree laying against her friend's side. "I think we need to move it to the right, like directly away from Jordan, but at the same time, a little up."

Kerry looked over the tree and splintered wood that had dug against Jordan's belly. "Is that-is that part in... her?"

"No, if it were... we'd know."

Andrew walked around Jordan's back side and gave her another once over. "Maybe it'd be better it if were."

Flora truly wanted to kick Andrew's ass right then and there in front of his immobile sister, but she was still terrified of any reaction Jordan may have making Andrew's wish a reality. Kerry quickly did the math and figured Jordan would be devastated whether they said or did anything to him or not. "I'll shove that splinter up your ass if you say another fucking thing!"

Jordan wished more than ever she could clap, but opted instead for a quick smile. Kerry looked over the tree, looked back to Flora and Sara, and said "You know, I'm stronger than I was in college. The three of us can get the tree off."

Andrew rolled up his sleeves. "Fine. Flora, you get in the back, Sar-"

Kerry put his hand on Andrew's chest. "No. Not you. Go."

Andrew looked to Kerry, then Jordan. "Whatever. Hope your femmy boyfriend knows how to use a wet dry vac."

In the time it took Kerry to process how horrifying that sentence was, Andrew stormed back to his car and raced down the driveway.

When Kerry turned back to Jordan, the tree suddenly sank the tiniest bit down Jordan's flank. The splinter that had already sliced her side cut a line 2 more inches long as it drew closer to the ground. Jordan couldn't help but squeak in fear. In a moment, Kerry dove beneath the tree and pressed their back against it to prevent it from going further. His hands went back to grip the broken trunk. "Sara, when I say, lift up on the part on the ground. Flora, hold as high up on the tree as you can and push mostly away from Jordan and a little up when I say so."

The women got into their respective positions and held their breath. "On 3. 1, 2, 3!"

While it only took 10 seconds, they were the longest 10 seconds of the four's lives. Sara lifted the thickest part, though she was primarily stabilizing the tree to prevent any sudden movements from tossing it back toward Jordan. Flora pulled her part away from Jordan's mass, trying to avoid staring at the blood on the tip of the splintered wood. Kerry did most of the heavy lifting, pushing up against the tree with his back and stepping away from Jordan's belly. Once they were 4 feet away from Jordan, he said, "Let go."

Flora and Sara did. Kerry ducked to his left and allowed the tree to fall slightly to the right of where he'd just held it. It slammed against the ground with a slight thud and shake.

They all breathed a sigh of relief, Kerry resting their hands against their blue dress pants. "Wow! Oh, that was close.... Jordan, how you are y-"

After a few hours of waiting, Jordan began her burping once again. Flora began laughing, tears streaming down her face at how happy she was at such a preposterous thing as a burp. Kerry and Sara were somewhat less elated and more confused. Flora rested her hand against Jordan's belly, still laughing, rubbing her hand across the vast skin. She was ecstatic that she could do this because it meant her friend was safe.

Sara approached Flora. "Um... is she OK?"

Flora managed to stop giggling and opted for merely grinning ear to ear. "Yes! Yes, she's OK."

"OK... good. I'm... I'm gonna go... if that's OK."

"Sure, Sara. And thank you! Again, just thank you so much!"

Flora tightly hugged her sister. "Oh! And please don't tell anyone about... all this. The tree and-and Jordan being... um-"

"Big?" offered Sara.

Flora nodded. "Yes, big. This is just between us."

"No problem," said Sara as she started her way back to her car, shaking her head. Then, as if remembering herself, she turned her head partway around while walking. "Oh, and bye, Jordan!"

Of course, over her burping, Jordan couldn't hear Sara's far off voice. Kerry got closer to Jordan's mass and gave her their first real once over. Flora noticed. "L-Like I said to Sara, thanks, Kerry!"

They hugged, though Kerry was still staring at Jordan's open, belching mouth in awe. "So, um... is there a reason she's... you know... b-"

Flora had been working on a concise explanation of what exactly Jordan had done to herself for once Jordan was in the clear, but after Andrew decided to be Andrew, she hadn't had much chance. "OK, so Jordan got really thirsty yesterday and decided to pump herself full of water and wants to stay like that but then there were bugs on her and she threw up and she was sad cuz she was small and so we pumped her up again but then there was the storm and the tree and... and that's it, really."

Kerry had one thousand questions after that, but still didn't have his answer. "I meant why is she burping?"

Flora joined Kerry in gazing at Jordan. "Oh, well she's mostly water, but there's some air from the pump, so she's... getting rid of it."

"Hmm. Yeah, I guess she looks a little... shorter. Or is it smaller? Or I guess both?"

Flora looked at the ground. "You know, you don't have to stay here for... this. I can take care of her from here."

"I know, but can I stay? I wanna talk to her."

Flora's eyebrows raised, though she fought to keep them down. "Yeah, you can stay, but... this is gonna take a bit."

Kerry stared back up at the burping woman and smiled. "That's fine. I have nowhere to be."

Flora smiled at them and walked over to Jordan's bulk, picking up the pieces of broken coffee mug still next to Jordan's side. "OK. I'm gonna get some bandages for her side."

Kerry spied the nearby pool chair and went to sit down. Flora realized there was a better place for him to hang out.

_________________________

Through a haze of pain and weariness, Jordan distantly felt something cold and hard against her front. For a split second, she thought it was the tree again. That there had been another storm or another branch they hadn't noticed and this would be the end. But then she remembered the tree wasn't cold. She willed her tired eyes open to see what had decided to rest against her.

That what was a who and that who was Kerry.

A small, quiet part of Jordan's brain told her she should be embarrassed. Not even just for how monstrously huge her belly was, but for the unending burp that had been pouring from her lips for the past few minutes and would continue for about 30 more. But the fact that she could, that the pressure that had sat pounding at her throat for the past few hours was finally being released, far outweighed any qualms she had about burping in front of her friend. She wanted to smile at him, to thank him for saving her life, but her mouth couldn't stay closed. She attempted to lift her hand that had been dangling against her form, along with the rest of her, in a wave, but her ordeal had exhausted her beyond belief.

Kerry couldn't perch atop Jordan's top just yet. The ladder was still a couple feet away from that being possible. They chose to stand on the top rung of the ladder with their back against her bulk. He rested his head against her skin. "I hope you're OK with this. Flora said you... you like it when she lays on you. Not sure I'm ready for that, but I can lean, I guess."

Kerry wasn't sure what to say or do. Jordan still couldn't talk to him as she released her air. He opted to look up at her face. The gash on her head wasn't bleeding anymore. It ran along her scalp in a line above her ear, like part of one side of a flower crown. Kerry had worn a flower crown to a Halloween party when they dressed as a character from Midsommar. He could bring the fake flower crown over some day to hide the scar while her hair grew back.

As he looked at her, his gaze drifted toward the section of skin that connected her belly to her body. His eyes bulged out. The area was beet red and had a small bruise forming in a circle around it. "Is that- does that hurt?! Your stomach... thing?"

Jordan looked away from his eyes and toward the ground. Her eyes started watering again in earnest. She had already cried off and on as various aspects of today's events coursed in and out of her mind. This was a new one: her co-worker and friend she'd had a crush on was staring at the grossest bit of skin on her weird, weird body.

"It's OK!" said Kerry soothingly, starting to descend the ladder. "I'm gonna get an ice pack, OK? That'll make it better."

Kerry went in through the back door and rushed to the freezer. Of course, there were no ice packs to be found, but they did grab a bag of frozen peas and another of frozen corn. Cold was cold. When he got back to the back door, Flora was coming in, carrying a bucket of water and washcloths she'd used to clean off Jordan's cut belly. "What is it?"

"I was just getting her some ice for her... her stomach."

"Her stomach? Oh, you mean the... the connector thing?"

Kerry looked away and blushed. "Yeah. It looks all red and inflamed. Did the tree hit it?"

Now it was Flora's turn to look away. "Shit! No, it... I was being stubborn and wouldn't go inside without her during the storm. She couldn't stop burping so she-she tied a rope around that so she could tell me to go ins-"

Flora fell against Kerry's chest and began to cry. The weight of the morning fell upon her now that Jordan couldn't see her. She could stop being brave and release the fear and sadness and anger and guilt she felt at everything Jordan had gone through. Kerry wasn't expecting this and he wasn't the best at handling sad people, but he patted her back all the same. "You did what you could to help her. She knows that."

Flora got off of Kerry and tried to compose herself, walking toward the bathroom. "I'm going to get gauze and patch her up. I think she might be small enough that you can get on top of her. That way I can use the ladder to work on the top of the cut."

"Um, OK," said Kerry, surprised he was being told to get on top of someone who had been in danger of death 15 minutes earlier. He returned to Jordan's front and looked up the length of the ladder. While it was still a little less than 2 feet away from her top, he knew he could get up with a little help.

"You guys really need to get some ice packs, but I think peas and corn will do the trick.... So, Flora needs the ladder for your cut, so... she said I should... get on you- I mean, on top of you- I mean... is that OK?"

Jordan nodded slightly; the most effort she could possibly muster. Kerry scaled the ladder and looked up at Jordan's top. It was a circle of skin 6 feet wide with Jordan attached to the middle by her swollen, red connector. Kerry considered asking Jordan to grab their hand as they jumped the difference between the end of the ladder and her expanse of skin, but they thought better of it. The last thing she needed was anything putting pressure on what attached her to her belly. Placing his hands on her top, he jumped up from the ladder and attempted to shimmy his way fully onto Jordan's bulk. What he didn't anticipate was his slick pantsuit didn't offer much in the way of friction and, when combined with the rainwater still coating Jordan's skin, it caused him to start sliding back toward the ground below.

Kerry had but a moment to panic before they felt a hand grip his and pull him up onto the belly. He opened his eyes and found he was holding Jordan's hand: her shaking hand. Her eyes were scrunched in pain and he knew why. "Oh, damn it! You shouldn't have done that. I could stand a little tumble. Are you OK?"

Jordan wanted to say no. That none of this was OK. That everything she'd put Jordan and Sara and Kerry and maybe even Andrew through wasn't OK. That whatever elaborate, preposterous goals she had weren't OK. But said goals had resulted in her burping for minutes straight and she couldn't say a damn word. And so she nodded.

Kerry held up the bag of corn. "All right. Let's get you feeling better."

Jordan wished she could still look away from Kerry, but considering how small her top was and how close they were, that was impossible. She still managed to put her arm next to the connector, blushing. Kerry put their hand on hers. "It's OK, Jordan. It's just your body. I just want you to feel better."

Jordan looked him in the eyes, shut her eyes, and leaned slightly to her left. The connective skin between her body and mass was 40% larger than it had been back when she was lazing the day away with Flora. It stung to move it at all, even to show part of it to Kerry. The rope that had closed off her belly to the outside had left a bruised line in the middle of the connector. On either side of the bruise was inflamed, pulsing skin. Kerry didn't flinch at this peculiar sight, but brought the bag of frozen corn to the connector. "Here, this should bring the swelling down."

Jordan's eyes opened and tears began to flow freely down her cheeks. The cold took much of the pain away almost immediately, making her burping all the better. As Kerry held the bag there, they gently reached out their other hand to one of Jordan's, rubbing their thumb over her palm. She barely even noticed Flora moving the ladder to her side and caring for her cut.

As a few minutes passed, Kerry looked away from Jordan's hand to see the top rung of the ladder to his side. What's more, Jordan's top had more space to spare, though neither of them much cared about the closeness. "Did you speed up for me? You want me out of here that bad?"

Jordan wished she could laugh and burp at the same time. She shook her head and pointed at the bag of corn laying next to her torso. Kerry's eyes grew large. "Wait, you mean you couldn't burp as much cuz this was inflamed?"

Jordan nodded. Then, for a brief moment, there was quiet. The constant burping that had become background noise to the three was suddenly finished. Kerry smiled. "Finally!"

Jordan giggled, which was a relief until she realized her throat was killing her. She coughed for a full minute while Kerry rubbed her back. "Do you need anything?"

The coughing finally subsided and she looked up to Kerry. She whispered, as she didn't dare tax her throat anymore. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much, Kerry. I thought I was gonna-gonna d-"

Jordan's tears and sobbing came in waves. Just as one memory of this horrible morning was processed, another would take its place and usher in a whole new bout of tears. Kerry was there through each to hear all about it.

\-----------------------------

"I don't remember the tree hitting my head. I think it might've knocked me out, but only for a little bit. It was still storming when I woke up, so it couldn't have been long. My head hurt, sort of like a headache, but the worst part was my belly. I couldn't see it, but... I knew there was something sharp cutting into me. And I felt the cut it had already left. I wanted to get the tree off my head, just push it over, but I realized if I did that... the tree would... my side would...."

"So I tried not to move. Anytime the thunder boomed and shook the ground a little, I cringed. But I couldn't move. I couldn't yell or shake my hands or anything. Because then the tree might move. There was one last clap of thunder that brought the tree down a little more. I felt it push down my stomach more and I thought that was it. I thought I was dead."

"And then right after the storm stopped, I felt it. I felt my... connection, the skin, it started to ease up a little. I could feel the opening open up a little. But I couldn't. I couldn't get smaller because then the tree would move. But the pressure was so much. It wanted to go out. And I'd had duct tape before to stop burping, but now I had nothing. I just had to hope the connection stayed small and that I could just keep my mouth shut."

"Flora came outside and was so happy. She'd thought I was dead I guess. But I couldn't talk to her. I couldn't open my mouth or I'd burp. Before, I had squeezed the connection shut with my muscles, but it hurt and it only barely worked. And as much as it hurt from putting the rope around it, I couldn't imagine trying to use those muscles. And I just hoped she could see what happened and figure it out. Cuz I couldn't tell her. I couldn't give her ideas or tell her why I couldn't talk. But she figured it out. She's so smart."

"I'm glad... I'm glad you came. You saved my life."

Kerry had started crying along with her soon into her story. "It's nothing! I'm just glad you're OK. And I'm... I'm sorry about what Andrew said."

"Oh," Jordan murmured. Her voice was slowly coming back, but it was still hoarse. She grabbed the bag of frozen peas and readjusted her connection against it. "It's... It's OK. Andrew's... He's my brother, but I kind of don't understand him at all sometimes. I'm the one who should be apologizing for... for what he said to you."

Kerry blushed. "I'm not... It doesn't matter. I'm used to that by now."

"That doesn't mean it's right. He has no right to question or mock who you are."

"Then it's also not right for him to question or mock who you are."

"That's not the same thing. I mean, he was making fun of me for being... for having-"

Kerry grabbed Jordan's hand. "Jordan, being like this, having a-a big belly like this, is a thing you want, right? A way you want to be?"

Jordan nodded.

Kerry sighed. "Being agender is a lot like that for me. I have this way I want everyone to see me. But a lot of people either see me as one thing... a man. Or they see me as not enough of a man, so they say I'm gay or I really want to be a woman or I don't really know what I want to be or I'm just a man trying to get attention. I'm not saying it's the same exact thing as what you want for yourself. But it's similar. Andrew thinks you want to be this way for some kink or to get attention. But anyone who knows anything about you or would care to listen to you would know that's not it. I'm just saying I know what it's like to not have your choices or wants respected."

Jordan grinned and laid her head down on her top, closing her eyes. "Thank you."

Kerry grinned right back. "Are you sleepy? I guess... all of that can get tiring."

"Yeah," Jordan yawned. "Plus, I didn't sleep too well last night."

"Really? I figured your belly would be pretty comfortable- I mean-"

Jordan chuckled as much as possible with her sore throat and desire to sleep. "It's fine. And yeah, I'm comfy. I had... bugs keep me up."

"Yeah, the locusts get really loud at my house."

Jordan faintly knew she should say more to this. That no, it wasn't the noise, but the feeling of the bugs crawling and flying all over her that kept her up and caused this whole mess with filling back up in the first place. But again, the thought was faint, for she was practically dead to the world. Jordan felt someone tap Shave and a Haircut on her front. She didn't bother opening her eyes.

Flora could see she was tired, so she only spoke as loud as necessary to carry her voice 12 feet up. "I just finished patching up your cut. Are you feeling OK?"

"Mm. Sort of. I mean, stuff hurts, but I'll live. And I told Kerry 80 times, but I'll say it to you, too: thank you, thank you, thank you."

"I'll take the other 77 times later." Flora looked over to Kerry. "How'd you get her to shrink down so quickly? I thought she'd still be burping now."

"The frozen veggies. Got the swelling down on her belly so it opened up more."

Jordan dragged her limp hand onto Kerry's. "My hero."

Flora looked between them. "Is your hero going to bandage up your head wound?"

Kerry opened their mouth, but Jordan spoke. "Head wound? It's not that bad. Didn't really bleed. I'll be fine. Just need sleep."

"Fine. You can sleep for now, but I have to go to the store. The clouds are starting to clear out and we need to have sunscreen on you by then. I'm gonna buy up their stock, then come back and get to spraying. And I am getting as much of the spray-on kind as I can. It might be colder, but it's so much easier."

"Fine," mumbled Jordan. After hearing "you can sleep," she only processed the bare essentials of the rest.

Flora looked at Kerry and mimed pointing back at his car with her thumb and saying "Are you gonna go?"

Kerry realized they were still in their pantsuit from work, but considering they'd just come off a 10 hour shift and they normally slept as soon as they got home, that didn't much matter. Besides, he was normally tired on a good day, i.e. a day in which he didn't lift a tree off a huge belly before it tore open. He shook his head at Flora and mimed resting his head on his hands, then pointed to Jordan's belly.

If Flora didn't need to get to the store as soon as possible to avoid her friend burning, she would've insisted they come down to the kitchen so she could give them the kind of stern talking-to a parent gives a teen's first date. She'd called Kerry because she'd seen him single-handedly push Jordan's car when she got stuck in a snow drift and she assumed he'd either be a close enough friend to not tell a soul about the situation or a distant enough acquaintance that he could be paid off to shut up. As it stood, it seemed like Jordan and Kerry hadn't spoken for a while, but suddenly he was a "hero" sleeping on top of her. Flora wanted to know his true intentions. But again, she had limited time and had to trust them for now.

Flora went inside to prepare for her trip to the store while Kerry laid on his side facing the already-sleeping Jordan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No cliffhanger? Well, unless you count Flora distrusting Kerry as a cliffhanger.


	11. Sweet Release

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan and Kerry bond over shared experiences. Kerry helps Jordan with her most pressing issue.

Jordan was awoken to a freezing feeling on her front side, causing shivers to shake her bulk. She tried to push her chest up to see what was going on down below, but the dull pain in the connective tissue that bridged her massive belly and the rest of her quickly flared up when she moved. "What?"

"It's just me," Flora called from the front as she continued to spray sunscreen along Jordan's stomach, leaving twitching skin in her wake at each swipe. "Got about 100 bottles of sunscreen. The man at Giant thinks I'm off my rocker, but we're set for a while."

"Ugh," Jordan shivered. "I guess it's appropriate you went to Giant. It takes one to care for one, huh?"

Flora smirked as she worked her way around Jordan's left side. "You must be feeling a little better if you're joking."

"Mmm. A little. My side still hurts a bit and I have a small headache. Can you talk a little quieter please?" Jordan looked over to Kerry, still sleeping on their side a foot away from her. "Kerry's still asleep."

"I'll need to wake him up in a minute or two anyway to do your top. Besides, I'm sure he needs to go home."

Jordan sighed and gently shook her passenger. "Kerry.... Kerry,"

Kerry was quite the deep sleeper, but being shaken awake was something they weren't used to. They rolled to their side abruptly, then noticed their bed was somewhat jiggler than normal. Looking down, he saw an impossible amount of skin.

"Morning!" Jordan said, resting her elbow on her bulk and her head on her hand.

Kerry turned onto his side and remembered the events of a few hours earlier. "Morning. Sorry, forgot where I was for a sec. I... I slept on you?"

Jordan giggled. "Yes, indeed."

"I'm... I'm sorry! I was really tired from working a long shift and-and I wanted to make sure you were OK and-"

Jordan would've put her hand on Kerry's shoulder, but their sudden awakening had left them too far away, so she opted to place her hand between them on her belly. "Kerry, it's fine! Flora slept on me before. I am very comfy." She poked her stomach as if this emphasized anything.

Kerry blushed. "You still look tired. If-if you want, I can go home and sleep. I don't wanna keep you up."

"No! No, it's not that. I haven't seen you for a while. I'm-I'm glad you're here. I just-we just needed-"

"I need to spray her down," Flora called from the top of the ladder, which she'd just scaled, scaring Kerry and Jordan. As with almost any action she performed nowadays, their combined shock caused ripples of flesh on Jordan's top.

Kerry for his part was confused. "What? Does she-do you need to be wet?"

Jordan must've been feeling somewhat better as she started giggling uncontrollably. As Flora stepped up onto Jordan's belly, Kerry realized how that sounded and sat up, putting their head in their hands. "I'm sorry."

Jordan patted his back as he was now just close enough for her to reach. "What are you sorry for?"

Kerry blinked rapidly and stood up quickly, trying their hardest not to fall onto Jordan's top with the uneven footing. "Nothing."

Flora started spraying Jordan's back half disinterestedly. "It's sunscreen."

Kerry saw Jordan's mass twitch as the sunscreen fell along her top. He ran over to Flora and grabbed her hand. "Stop! Don't you see that?!"

"The hell?! See what?"

Jordan looked back at Kerry, unable to see Flora from her position on her belly. She watched Kerry stare at her back half like they'd seen an alien. "Are you talking about the twitching?"

Kerry looked over to Jordan where she lay and tilted his head. "The what?"

Flora yanked her hand from Kerry's and aimed the sunscreen bottle toward the area of Jordan's bulk directly behind her legs. "She shakes a bit when she's cold." She sprayed the area, issuing said shaking and causing Jordan to squint.

"Oh," Kerry sat down suddenly on Jordan's back half, issuing a wave of skin from where his butt plopped onto her belly. "Sorry, I thought you were in pain or about to burst or something! After yesterday, I just... I was worried."

Flora continued her thorough coating of Jordan's top without looking up at either Jordan or Kerry. "If you need to get going, we understand."

Jordan tried to glare at Flora, but she was strategically positioned so as to make that impossible. She opted to ignore her roommate's passive aggression. "I understand if you don't want to sleep on freshly-sunscreened skin, but you can stay in my room if you'd like."

Kerry gulped. "Um, are you sure? I mean, I could just go home or-or I could sleep on the couch."

"You can take my bed, Kerry. I'm not exactly gonna be using it," said Jordan, gesturing at her gargantuan belly.

Flora lightly tossed the sunscreen bottle at Jordan's feet and quickly made her way to the ladder. "Got a meeting."

Kerry looked to Jordan and shrugged. "If you, um, if you like people sleeping on you, I could just stay up here. I mean, I got a little dirty yesterday with the tree and all. I don't wanna mess up your bed."

"Oh, but you're perfectly happy to track dirt all over my magnificent belly, hmm," Jordan said, pointing at a piece of bark on her left flank.

Kerry's eyes bulged as he scrambled to pick up the bark and toss it off of Jordan. "I'm so sorry! I didn't notice it! I-"

Jordan grabbed his ankle lightly. "Relax! I was yanking your chain! That was just there from the tree. Besides, I could stand a shower later anyway, so you're doing nothing to my personal hygiene that a couple days out here hasn't already done."

Kerry yawned and took off his blue blazer, revealing a white button-up shirt underneath. They rolled up their sleeves and laid back down on their back, this time to Jordan's left. They bunched up the blazer into a makeshift pillow.

Jordan rested her head on her crossed arms as she lay on her belly. She wistfully looked over to Kerry and grabbed his hand. "Did I say 'thank you' already?"

Kerry opened his left eye and looked at her. "That's the first thing you said."

"Well, I'm gonna say it again. And probably every day for the next... ever. Thank you. If you hadn't been here to take care of the tree and-and Andrew...."

Kerry placed their other hand over Jordan's and squeezed. "You're welcome. Now go back to sleep. You need your rest."

The two friends did just that, one of top of the other in the midday sun.

\---------------------------------

For the second time that day, Kerry awoke to a partly cloudy sky and the sound of birdsong. He felt like this was beginning to be a common occurrence among occupants and visitors here. He looked at his watch: 3:11 pm. They hadn't slept much after a good night's work and rescuing his friend from a very sharp end, but it was more sleep than he'd gotten at one time in quite a while. Still, he was by no means well-rested and nothing obvious had woken him up, so he decided to sit up to see what possibly could have woken him.

Then, he felt it. A rumble. Having lived in California a short while, at first, he assumed it was a small earthquake. But this was the East Coast and earthquakes were rare. They saw no construction equipment and there were no mines or quarries nearby. Then, they felt it again. Looking down the slope of Jordan's left side, he saw the twitch in her skin at the same time he felt the skin below him shake. Kerry turned to face Jordan and saw her wide awake, staring into the distance in the direction he was sitting.

"Jordan, are you alright?!"

She continued her thousand-yard stare and pressed her lips together. "Yes."

The shiver returned and with it, Jordan squinted.

"What the- Are you OK?!"

Jordan's main body and a small circle around her blushed. "Y-yes. It's fine."

Kerry wasn't buying it. The area to her side was still twitching. "Jordan, if you're hurting, you need to tell me."

Jordan shook her head and covered her face with her hands. "I'm not hurting."

"Then what are you doing? Why are you... twitching?"

Jordan mumbled into her hands. Kerry sighed. "What?"

"I said it itches," she whispered.

"Oh.... Um, do you-would you like me to... scratch it?"

The red, blushed patch around Jordan expanded to reach where Kerry was sitting. "I mean, I don't want to make you do something you don't want to, b-" Her side scrunched up again, begging to be scratched. "But I'd like it if you did."

Kerry turned over on Jordan's belly and leaned over her side. Their slightly callused fingers scritched at the skin, melting the twitching away slightly. Jordan resisted the urge to beat down on her stomach over how good it felt. She'd been ignoring the itch for hours and wouldn't have said anything if Kerry hadn't started feeling the jiggles. She became a little bolder. "Could you go a little rougher?"

Kerry froze for a split second, then picked up the pace, really pushing on the skin and moving quickly across it. Then it happened. 

For the first time since before the storm, Jordan felt a bubble release from her side right where Kerry was scratching. It trailed up the curve of her side, across her top, and popped inside the air pocket that had formed after she returned to her accustomed size. Kerry followed the twitching skin as it moved from where he scratched to the pocket. "Does that all itch?"

Jordan swore if she'd had enough blood in her body, her entire massive form would've turned beet red. "Um, no, that's... that's a bubble."

Kerry stopped itching and turned over onto his back. "A bubble? You have... you have bubbles in you?"

"Well, I didn't plan on it. I mean, the first time I filled up, I did, but we got most of those off my... my insides. When I filled up again, I had planned on having Flora go around and... and get rid of the bubbles so I could just burp them all out. But... I don't know if you know this but being gigantic and full of air at the top can be rather distracting. Plus, everything else that happened that day."

"Hmm," Kerry put his hand against her belly. "But I guess it feels nice, right?"

Jordan's belly shook slightly. She was trying to hold back her jiggling as much as possible around Kerry, but the reminder of what the bubbles did to her was a little too much to handle. "Yes. Yes, it does."

Kerry looked up to Jordan and rested their head on their hand with their elbow poking into Jordan's side. Then, he seemed to remember he was sitting on someone. "Oh, shit, I'm sorry! Does that hurt?"

"Does what hurt? Oh, you mean your elbow? No. It... it kinda feels nice actually."

"Nice?"

"Your-your elbows are a little... rough and it's like getting a nice scratch behind the ears. Except, ya know, on your belly."

Kerry chuckled. "Well, I can't say I do know, but I'm glad I feel good."

They both giggled, sending waves across Jordan's top. That's when Kerry noticed it. "I think I see the mother of all bubbles back there. That one must feel great."

For the second time that day, Jordan thought she was going to die, though this time out of embarrassment. She'd assumed if Flora hadn't noticed the hideous air pocket in the first place, Kerry wouldn't notice either, but he was apparently more of a keen observer. "Damn it!"

Kerry sat up, still staring at the lump. "What? Does it hurt?"

"No, I...," Jordan laid her head down on her front. "I don't like it. It's... it's not me."

She expected Kerry to react the same way Flora had: friendly, but unaware. Poking it with her foot and saying it was fine, but secretly wondering what the hell Jordan was talking about. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you want me to help you see if we can get rid of it?"

Part of Jordan wanted to scream at him that yes, there surely must be and he should go about doing it right now. But the other, more curious part of her won out. "Why do you care about it? Why do you care if it's gone?"

Kerry gave her a puzzled look. "You don't like it."

"Right, but... I mean, I'm big anyway, right? I would think you'd just say 'well, that's what you get for filling yourself up with water. Deal with it.'"

Kerry sighed. "Jordan, I'm... I know what it's like to feel uncomfortable with how I look...," Kerry looked over Jordan's side to the ground below. "And I know people can have expectations of what you should look like or even what they think you should want to look like."

Jordan laid her hand on Kerry's back. She'd tried for their shoulder, but since she was effectively permanently laying down, this was the next best thing. "Thank you, Kerry. Do you, um, would you mind helping me now?"

Kerry turned around and smiled. "Of course! So," he stood up, still getting his sea legs when it came to standing on a giant belly. "where do we start?"

\--------------------------------

Flora was in the middle of a Skype call with her co-workers when she heard a strange sound come from the backyard. It sounded like a basketball hitting the ground. Considering their neighbors weren't especially close and neither she nor Jordan owned a basketball, this was a tad concerning, if not wacky. Since her co-workers were in the middle of reviewing a webpage their company put up, she figured they wouldn't notice if she popped out for a second to see what exactly was going on.

She opened the back door and found quite the sight. This seemed to be one of many patterns that had recently developed when it came to Jordan's new size. 

Jordan was laying precisely where she had been for the past 2 days and some change. Currently, her bulk was in the middle of a particularly feisty wobble, emanating from her back left side, shooting waves of water and, in turn, skin around her frame. She even heard the tell-tale bloop of an especially large bubble popping off of Jordan's bottom skin and making its way to her top to pop ever so exquisitely. A ripple of delight jittered her belly. Jordan managed to open her eyes and wave to Flora. "Afternoon, good pal! How goes wo-"

At the precise moment Jordan started to say "work," the basketball noise sounded off again from behind Jordan. A second later, yet more skin undulated along Jordan's belly. While she heard no bubbles blooping this time, she assumed some must've worked their way along her roommate's inner walls, as her top skin shivered. 

Flora tilted her eyebrow. "It was going fine until someone decided to start shooting free throws. What exactly are you doing?"

Kerry peeked their head around Jordan's back section and gave a sheepish smile. "Hi, Flora!"

"Hi, Kerry.... You know, it's a little difficult to have basketball practice on the grass."

"Hmm? Oh, no, I was just helping Jordan get some bubbles off of her. I'm gonna help her out with... with a problem."

Flora looked up to Jordan. She looked down to her top guiltily. "What problem?"

Jordan crossed her arms and sat them on her bulk. "The one you wouldn't help me deal with."

Flora huffed. She needed to get back to the meeting and she didn't have time to handle Jordan's anger at such a trivial matter. She'd done what she could and helped out of literally tight spaces. If she wanted to be pissy, she could do so with Kerry for a while. "Well, if you all could solve the problem without playing basketball, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm in a meeting right now and it's hard to justify my not coming in to the office when they hear a pick-up game being played outside my house."

Kerry walked around to Jordan's right side, carrying a basketball. "We weren't playing. I was getting the bubbles off her sides. We figured it'd be easier to do this than move the ladder around for the higher parts."

"Easier to do what?"

Kerry threw the basketball at Jordan's right side just next to the top section. When it bounced off, it unleashed the signature wave around her form and a jiggle of contentment from her top. Kerry caught the ball and moved on to the next section. "I've got maybe 5 more to go and we're all set."

Flora wasn't sure if it was jealousy or annoyance she felt at Kerry's sudden desire to hang out with Jordan. Did she really want to be out there lobbing basketballs at her friend's belly or was she frustrated that her friend wanted such a thing done in the first place and had a willing participant in her chicanery? "Fine." She went in and closed the door, sighing as she returned to her computer.

A few bops of the ball later, Kerry returned to the ladder. "Is that all of them?"

"Let me check," Jordan said, closing her eyes and focusing on her belly for a few seconds. "Yeah... yeah, I'm water now! Well, except...."

She craned her neck toward her back half, where Kerry was already standing. Just by their legs, she could see the end of her air pocket. It wasn't quite the 8 foot round, 1 foot thick monstrosity she'd had before she filled back up, but it was plenty big enough for her. Kerry knelt down and rubbed her belly, making sure he wasn't too close to the pocket. "It'll be OK. We'll figure it out. I was wondering though, since you burped before, I wonder why that didn't get rid of it?"

Jordan shook her head. "Same thing happened the first time I filled up. We're pretty sure what happens is I burp, then the bubbles all collect there when they come off my sides. But I can't seem to burp them up for whatever reason." She sighed and put her head on her hand.

Kerry scratched their chin. "Now, I could be wrong, cuz I'm no expert-"

"Is anyone an expert on absolutely huge bellies?"

"I'd honestly be surprised if there wasn't at least 1 out there somewhere. But regardless, I'm thinking you can't burp it cuz it's not near your... um, the section where your body and belly connect."

"I've been thinking of it as a connector."

"Right. Your connector. I think we need to move the air pocket over to it, then you could burp it out."

Jordan snapped her fingers and grinned. "Man, that's a good idea! Shit! I'm sorry!"

Kerry tilted his head. "Sorry for what?"

"I-I called you... man." Jordan looked down to her belly and blushed.

"What? No! No, it's fine, Jordan. I don't care."

"But I shouldn't call you that! It's insensitive! Cuz you're not a man and I shouldn't think of you as a man."

"I mean, you're not wrong, but I really don't mind people saying 'man' like that to me. Like if I said to you, 'hey, man, what's up?' you wouldn't care, right?"

"No."

"Same here. I know you're not saying I'm a man."

Jordan finally looked up to them. "I'm glad you're OK with it, but... I don't know. I'm just trying to be considerate of you. I'm... if I'm perfectly honest, you're the only agender or nonbinary person I know. I've known other trans people, but they were still in the binary. Like I knew to use feminine pronouns and words with trans women and masculine with trans men. I think I'm just... I'm getting used to what to say and not say. But I don't want to get used to it. I want to just know it and do it right now."

Kerry smiled. "Trust me, you're doing much better than 90% of people I know. I mean, most people I know don't really know I'm agender. It's just... it's easier to just let them use he/him for me and try to ignore when they say I'm a nice young man. And you're better than most people who know I'm agender, too. Most of them at least try a little to get stuff right, but you... you really want to. So, how are we gonna move this bubble?"

Jordan shook her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get us all introspective about your life and everything."

Kerry waved his hand. "It's fine! I talked about your belly, you talked about my gender, or lack thereof. We're even."

"Is a belly a gender now?"

Kerry giggled. "Maybe it is. Hey, there ya go! I'm not agender after all; my gender is belly."

They both had a giggle fit, rumbling her top like a kiddie pool. Then Kerry returned their gaze to the dreaded air pocket. "So how should we move this?"

Jordan hummed. "Well, how big is it? I can't see it, so it's hard to tell."

"About 4 feet wide."

"Do you think... could you possibly try to push it toward me?"

"Sure. And, I just want to be sure, but you're OK with me touching it?"

Jordan paused. "If I'm being honest, no, but I need to get it gone."

"Jordan, I'm not going to touch it if you don't want me to."

"That's the thing, though! If I could get back there and get rid of it, I would. But I can't. And feeling it there is... it's the worst. It's wrong and I hate it. If I have to endure the idea of... of someone touching it to get rid of it, then I can manage that."

Kerry sighed. "OK, but if you want me to stop for any reason, just tell me and I'll stop right away."

"I will."

Kerry knelt beside the air pocket. "Are you ready?"

Jordan breathed in and breathed out. "Ready."

Kerry pressed his hands on the side of the air pocket facing away from Jordan and towards him. He tried cupping his hands behind it and pushing it toward her main body, but the air simply pushed out in different directions. The left side veered further left and out, the right went the intended path, then pushed a little to the right. Jordan rubbed her hands back and forth against her front and stared forward, trying to ignore the fact that her friend was currently touching the most disgusting part of her body. 

Kerry considered trying to gather the two now separate air bubbles back into one, but considering how well this was going when it should've been straightforward, they decided against it. They would attempt to get one of them toward Jordan's main body, then work on the other if all went according to plan. He assumed the same thing would happen as the last time, eventually ending up with multiple smaller pockets all around Jordan's top like a giant fleshy piece of naan. Then, he knew what he had to do.

Scooting a few feet behind the rightmost air bubble, Kerry laid down on their side. Then, they began to roll from their side to their belly to their side over the bubble. Sure enough, it glided along Jordan's top and reached just next to her connector. At this, Kerry sat up, shifted very close to Jordan, and used his hands to gently nudge the bubble to attempt to get it under the connector. He did his best not to touch the connector itself, seeing the angry red skin and purple and brown bruise ring around it. The moment their hands no longer felt the bump of the air pocket, they heard a short burp. Well, short for Jordan; almost unbelievably long for anyone else.

Jordan beamed, then frowned. "Wait, but I still feel something! No! It-"

"Jordan, it's OK. The pocket split into 2 before. That was just 1 half. I'm gonna go move the other 1 over."

Jordan let out the breath she'd been holding. "Oh, thank fuck!"

Kerry giggled. "Don't thank me yet! I'll be right back."

Kerry crawled on his hands and knees to behind the other bubble. The straightest path from this one to Jordan's main body was to her butt. Once again, Kerry rolled their body over the bubble til they reached Jordan's prodigious impediment. "Um, Jordan?"

"Yes?"

"So I don't know if you can feel where the bubble is?"

Jordan paused, then grinned. "Yes."

"Could you-would you please um, lift your, uh, butt so I can move the bubble?"

Jordan was glad she'd been getting so close to Kerry lately. It made this process of improving her form much easier. "Butt! Of course!" Jordan giggled and lifted her butt a short way with her legs splayed on either side. Her connector made standing up or even getting on her knees impossible, but she could get enough lift to push her butt into the air.

Kerry tried not to look as they moved their hands over the bubble and pushed the edges toward the connector. The positioning and the fact that the bubble didn't easily fit under Jordan's only slightly raised rump didn't help. He could feel an erection growing in his pants as he laid on his belly. He hoped Jordan was too preoccupied with the bubble to notice. Once again, in a moment, the air pocket managed to adjust just so under and into the connector and rushed out Jordan's mouth as a burp. It still hurt to work those muscles, but the satisfaction of knowing the unsightly blemish was gone was too sweet for her to care.

Jordan sighed contently and rubbed her arms against her form like she was making a snow angel. "Mmmm! Finally! I'm smooth and round and totally water! I'm perfect!" She turned around to thank Kerry. "Thank you so m- Kerry!"

Behind her, Kerry was awkwardly sitting with their feet splayed in front of them, sporting a prominent erection, looking away toward the ground and clearly holding back tears. 

"Kerry, are you OK?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used he/him and they/their about equally for Kerry since he uses both. I think I did it to where it's clear who's being referred to in each sentence, but if it gets confusing, let me know.


	12. Best Laid Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flora confronts Jordan about Kerry and Jordan's future is put into question

Jordan spied Kerry's boner through their dress pants. She tried to hold back her excitement. She'd had a crush on him when they worked together at the pizzeria, but nothing had come of it. As forward as she was in other aspects of her life, namely shooting gallons of water into her stomach, she still preferred others to come onto her rather than the other way around. "I guess someone likes my belly more than they let on, huh?"

Kerry somehow managed to blush more than he already was and turned to face Jordan's side, his feet slightly dangling off the slope. "I'm sorry."

"Kerry, there's nothing to be sorry about! I'm not only flattered, I'm down! I mean, it might be a little awkward considering I can't get on my back, but we can make it w-"

"Jordan, I can't," Kerry said into their hands, which he now used to shield his face.

"Listen, you're not taking advantage or anything. If I didn't want it, believe me, I'd let you know. Flora'd be out here to beat your ass in a second."

Kerry turned his head to look to the ground near Jordan's front. He couldn't manage to look her in the eyes with what he was packing. "No, I-I don't want to."

Jordan arched her eyebrow and stared at Kerry's full-on erection. "I don't understand. You... I mean, you seem interes-"

"Jordan, I... I like you. As a friend and maybe even...," Kerry sighed and tried to keep his composure. "I've been interested in you for a while. Since we worked together. But I... I'm not the kind of person who-who wants... I'm not interested in-"

"Sex."

Kerry quickly turned to Jordan and his face went from blushed to pale. "Yes."

Jordan smiled slightly and laid down on her belly. "You're asexual."

Kerry's eyes lit up like Christmas morning. "Yes! You know the word!" they sighed and laid back on her bulk, their legs still dangling and their erection still alive and kicking. "It doesn't help... this, but you know the word."

"Have you met many people who didn't?"

"Unfortunately. I mean, I'm agender. I'm used to people not knowing anything about certain aspects of me. But it's just another thing. And then, even with people who are incredibly cool with me being agender, they-they assume...."

Jordan turned back to look at Kerry's face, though from her angle, all she could see was his legs, which didn't help the feelings built up within her. She chose to scratch an itch she could actually scratch: one on her front. "What do they assume?"

Kerry sighed once again. "A lot of people think people with-with penises always want sex. Like even if they know people exist outside of cis men and cis women, they assume amab people are just constantly horny. And... it gets frustrating."

Jordan sighed. "Well, I know better than that. But...."

"But what?" Kerry said, closing their eyes.

"I'm not trying to be rude or invalidate you or anything. I want you to know that, Kerry."

"But what?"

"You're hard."

Kerry returned his hands to his face and tried not to die right then and there.

"And you were touching me and rolling around on me when that happened. I'm not trying to say what you were thinking or feeling, but... I mean, you can't blame me if I think that means you might be interested."

"Jordan, I-I know it doesn't make much sense cuz, yeah, with most people, that's what that would mean. But I... just because I see someon-something I like or want, I don't actually want to... do that. It's like there's this disconnect for me. I can get... excited at some things, but I never want that to go anywhere."

"I think I understand. I'm just confused about something."

Kerry managed to sit up carefully. "What?"

It was Jordan's turn to blush. Kerry spotted the redness creep all the way up to his left leg. "All that time at the pizzeria.... I thought you were interested in me. I kinda wanted you to ask me out, but... I guess I know why that didn't happen. I guess I'm just confused cuz you really did seem like you liked me."

Kerry's skin turned a shade to match Jordan's. "I-I did. I do."

They stared at each other now, too afraid to look away. Kerry continued, "I like you romantically. Like I want to-to date you and see you and talk to you. That's what you saw at Don's Pizzeria. I just don't want... the other stuff."

"Then why didn't you ask me out?"

"I sort of am now if that counts?"

They both nervously giggled. Kerry placed their hand on Jordan's belly and traced their finger in wavy lines along her form. "I didn't ask you back then cuz... of how I identify."

Jordan cocked her head. "What does that have to do with it?"

"I mean, back then, you had only dated men. And you did date a couple women in college, but... I thought I wasn't enough for you. Cuz I'm not a woman. And I'm not a man. I actually... this is gonna sound dumb."

"Please tell me."

Kerry sighed. "For a little bit, I considered trying to butch up enough to be a man with a capital M so I could be someone you'd want to date. And when I realized I couldn't force myself to do that even for you, I thought maybe I could just turn all the way away from that and be a woman so you could date me as a woman."

"Kerry...," said Jordan softly, saddened that he thought he had to do all of that for her.

"And even when I thought there might be a chance you'd like me as my agender self, I figured you couldn't get past me not wanting to... have sex with you. That you'd think I thought you were gross or you'd think there was something wrong with me. I just assumed you'd want someone without all this... complication around them. All these things you probably didn't know much or anything about."

Jordan started to tear up. "Kerry! Kerry, I like you for who you are. For who you really are. I don't want you to be more manly or womanly or more anything! I crush on you, not your gender!"

Kerry's heart skipped a beat. "You... you have a crush on me?"

Jordan's entire belly finally succumbed to her embarrassment and turned bright red. "Um... yes."

Kerry was in absolute shock. They had no idea the feeling was mutual and had been for years. Still, there was one tiny impediment to his asking her out. Well, not tiny.

"I-um, I would just love to talk about this later, but I need... I don't want to make you uncomfortable and I need to, um-"

Jordan took a quick look at her crush's still evident erection and awkwardly, quietly giggled. "I know you don't want to... to have sex, but if you need to, you know, take care of things yourself, you don't have to get off me. I mean, I can't see that far back on me, so you could just... do that there if you want."

Kerry stood up. For a moment, Jordan thought they were going to quietly shuffle over to her back section and rub one out while she struggled to prevent herself from doing the same. Instead, he started awkwardly walking to the ladder. "I-I don't like to... to take care of it like that. I just-that's not something I do."

"That's fine. Look, you don't have to go entirely anyway. You can go in my room and, you know, watch TV or sleep or whatever. And you can come back out whenever you want. I'll be right here." Jordan smacked her belly like she was smacking someone's ass.

Kerry smiled and struggled to go down the ladder considering his situation. "I will. And, Jordan?"

"Yes?" she said in the vague direction of her side, seeing as Kerry was no longer visible.

"Thank you for understanding. I don't get a huge number of people who understand me and... you do."

Jordan struggled not to cry. "Right back at ya."


	13. The Slippery Slope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan and Flora clear the air. Jordan's future is put into question.

Flora finally opened the door to her office and found Jordan's bedroom door shut. She figured she should make enough spaghetti for Jordan for whenever she decided to leave her room so she could warm it up. She was about to grab the pasta from the pantry when she realized that couldn't be Jordan in her room and she was seemingly on an all liquid diet. Flora grabbed a cup of diced pears and a bagel and went through the back door to be greeted by her friend's giant belly. "Evening."

Jordan had been awake for some time and was nervously drumming on her top when she saw Flora emerge. "Oh, Flora! Glad you finally came out! Could you help me with something?"

Flora snapped the pool chair into position like it had personally offended her and sat down. "What happened to loverboy?"

Jordan frowned. "Don't call them that! Kerry's agender."

"I thought you called Kerry him before when you worked with them?"

"I did. He uses he/him and they/them. Pronouns don't necessarily equal gender."

"Fair enough. Sorry. Then, where's loverperson?"

Jordan rested her elbows on her bulk. "Sleeping in my room. But that's kinda why I need your help with this."

Flora speared a piece of pear with her fork and looked away from Jordan like she was the most boring thing in the world. "Help with what?"

At this, Jordan flushed. "Well, you see, over the past couple days, I've gotten a little... dirty."

"No news here. I kinda figured that was what all this was about to begin with."

"All what?"

Flora continued to look forward into the yard, but gestured to her left at where she knew Jordan's bulk was parked.

Jordan gasped. "Flora, you know being big and watery and smooth was my goal! I'm not doing this for some sexual thing! You know, you shouldn't act so hostile toward Kerry when he seems to understand what I want more than you!"

Flora set down the finished fruit cup and sighed. "I'm not being hostile toward him."

"Then what was all that when you were putting sunscreen on me? Telling them to go home and just being bitchy to them?"

Flora stood up and walked over to Jordan's front, placing her hand against her mass. "You know I care about you and want what's best for you, right?"

Jordan crossed her arms and stayed silent for a beat. "Right."

"Why does he suddenly want to talk to you and sleep on you?"

"Admittedly, it's much easier to sleep on me now than at any other point in my life."

It was Flora's turn to cross her arms. "That's it? Ease of access?"

"You're the one who called them over here! If you thought he was so shitty, why'd you call him?"

"It's not that I think Kerry's shitty. It's that I don't know them that well."

Jordan leaned down and blew a raspberry against her belly. "I'm not buying that. I'm an adult, Flora! I've had other friends and co-workers you didn't care about me seeing. How is Kerry different from them? Are you being a bigot?"

Flora slapped Jordan's belly, lightly yet in a way that let her know she meant it to show incredulity. "Fuck no! That's not why I'm wary of them! I just...."

Suddenly, the tears started flowing. "I almost lost you!"

Jordan started sniffling a bit herself and reached her hand down as if she could possibly hold Flora's hand at her height on her mass. 

Meanwhile, Flora paced a circle around Jordan's form. "And it's all because I pumped you full of water in the first place! If you hadn't swelled up, you wouldn't have been out in the storm and-and then I was the one who called Andrew and he... I thought he was going to kill you! And after I got you into this mess, I couldn't even stop him from being an asshole and almost doing that! Kerry did! Kerry who just got here and barely knew anything about what happened to you!"

Jordan waved to get Flora's attention as she rounded her front side and patted her belly to beckon her like inviting a dog to jump on the couch. Flora raced around to the ladder and rushed to Jordan's side, making her way by feel more than sight as her eyes were clouded with tears. "And when they were up here with you, that was our thing, you know? It's dumb of me to think that. Cuz you're your own person. Your belly, your rules. But I was just... jealous. And he's the one who thought to use the ice on your connector! If it were just me here, you'd be in much more pain than you are now and it would've taken so much longer for you to burp all that air off. But I'm supposed to help you and protect you! And Kerry just shows up and starts doing everything right!"

Jordan caressed Flora's head and shook her own. "Flora, I wouldn't be this big if I didn't want to be. You didn't force a hose in my mouth. You just accelerated what I was already going to do. And Kerry helped me because he cares! He's not any better or worse at helping me out than you are! You got that bit of me out of the pool, you got rid of that bug, you got the pool chair out from under me. If anything, Kerry's been lightening your load. They even helped me get rid of the air pocket."

As quick as Jordan was with her banter, she wasn't the best at knowing what was appropriate to mention. Flora's tears began anew. "See?! They took care of the biggest problem you had! You asked me to do it a million times and I just kept putting it off!"

Jordan grabbed Flora's hands in hers. "You had good reasons each time though. I know I was a bit snippy with you earlier about it. I was just... annoyed at how you were treating Kerry. It doesn't have to be either you or Kerry. I love you both! You as a friend and Kerry...."

Flora wiped her drying eyes with her hand. "And Kerry...? Are sparks flying with the woman full of water?" She playfully grabbed Jordan's top and jiggled it, a sure sign things were on the mend.

A blush quickly overtook much of Jordan's frame. "Maybe.... There were definitely some sparks before they went inside. I guess... we'll see what happens. And actually-" The blush crept over nearly all remaining bits of Jordan. "That's what I need your help with."

"Jordan, I'm not serenading you and your date as you mack on top of your giant ass belly."

Jordan snorted. "Mercifully for all involved, that's not it. See, I said earlier I had gotten a bit dirty and... well, I have." Jordan gestured to her bulk.

As Flora gave Jordan's top a quick visual inspection, she didn't see much to be concerned with. "I don't see much dirt. A little bit of debris from the tree, I'd guess, but nothing major."

"Right, there's that, but I can tell I'm not exactly spotless. I mean, just up by my main body, I can tell I can still sweat. And I feel a little bit of sweat on all of my belly except the part on the ground."

Flora frowned. "Really? I don't see any sweat on you."

"I feel it though. I mean, I'm not saying my belly's sweating like the average person's would. I think if my belly had grown enough sweat glands to cover it like a normal belly would..., we'd have known pretty quickly."

"True. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone willing to sleep on this like that."

"Well, I'm sure I could, but that's not my kink. As it is, I think there's just a low level of sweat all around me. Not terrible at this point, but I'm sure it's not gonna improve at this point. Anyhoo, I was wondering if you'd be so kind as to... scrub me down."

"Beg pardon?"

"Just get a bucket, the hose, a brush, and some body wash and-" Jordan mimed scrubbing her belly with her fingers. "Go to town."

While she was glad to be considered helpful to Jordan, Flora wondered how many other bizarre things could be asked of her after the past two days. "Wouldn't this level of care be better suited for someone with whom sparks are flying?"

Jordan feared she was going to be stuck in a permanent cycle of blushing at this point. "I mean, firstly, the sparks are still just sparks. We're not dating or anything. And secondly, it's a little embarrassing to ask Kerry to just... wash me."

"But asking your roommate and best friend to dip a brush into a bucket and scrub you is normal behavior?"

An accusatory finger poked at Flora's face. "I don't mean to push this in your face, but someone was just complaining that they don't feel useful vis a vis my huge, high-maintenance belly. This would definitely help me out."

Flora rubbed her chin in contemplation. "Hmm, how about I scratch your back and you scratch mine?"

"I've got my back covered. Oh, you mean-sure!"

\-----------------------------------

Kerry woke up in Jordan's bedroom and nearly had a heart attack. He'd been in her room back when they worked together when she was helping him with homework for college. He remembered the Queen posters and unexplained hole in the wall that opened to the bathroom. In the dim moments of just waking up, they only remembered that they'd had an erection and Jordan had caused it. Panic gripped him as he wondered what had happened. He wouldn't have willingly had sex with her. He'd had sex with other dates, but only when he felt pressured to do so or thought it was what he should do. Jordan was on a higher level of desire for him. Whenever they had sex with someone, it somehow destroyed the romance for them. All he could see in his partner after that was a lifetime of begrudgingly having sex occasionally and feeling uncomfortable the whole time. The trauma made continuing the relationship impossible. There was no chance they'd have sex with Jordan, even if she had pressured them, because they couldn't taint the feelings they had for her. He'd rather never date her than date her and live with the constant memory of having had sex with her.

As the locusts outside more fully roused him, Kerry remembered the events that had led him to Jordan's bedroom. He groaned and looked down to his crotch. Blessedly, his problem had gone away and he was free to return to his paramour. They just hoped she hadn't reconsidered after sitting on it and her belly for a few hours. Kerry got up and walked to the living room. He hadn't seen Flora and Jordan was obviously outside. He thought he heard the radio from outside. Opening the back door, they took in a unique sight.

Flora was currently standing by Jordan's right side. To her right was a bright red bucket full of suds. She held a long green-tipped brush on a pole in her hands, which she was scrubbing up and down Jordan's skin, coating it in foamy bubbles. As the brush moved down her skin, light jiggles of pleasure trailed behind it. The rest of Jordan's right side was already covered in bubbles, though the furthest area back on her was starting to dry out. "Hey, Flora, I feel it drying up on the back! Hose me down."

At this reminder of Jordan not simply being a belly, Kerry looked up to her main body. Jordan's topside was loaded with goodies. To start, the radio he'd heard inside was blasting "Conga" by Gloria Estefan and sitting on the right edge of Jordan's mass. Toward her front right section sat a blue plastic bin 2 feet by 3 feet. She grabbed a glass from the bin and brought it down in front of her main body. After running the glass around the skin in front of her, Kerry noticed the glass was now covered in bubbles the same consistency as those on her side. Jordan scrubbed the glass, dipped it into another identical bin to her left, and laid it on a dish towel that rested atop her. 

"Just a sec," Flora called, grabbing the hose by her feet. "You want Full, Shower, or Mist?"

"Hmm," Jordan considered as she grabbed a plate from the first bin. "Surprise me!"

Flora turned a notch on the hose attachment and turned it on her friend's side. The outermost holes around the attachment sprayed out onto Jordan's massive form, letting the bubbles trickle down to the earth. They left behind a gleaming section of skin, water beading up and gliding down the mass like rain on a windshield. The feeling sent shivers down her belly, in turn drying her sides even faster. "Ooh! That was Shower, wasn't it?"

Flora patted Jordan's belly and picked up the brush again to dip it into the sudsy bucket. "Very good."

Part of Kerry wanted to let this scene play out just because they had no idea how to come in without being awkward. "Hi, guys."

Jordan's whole belly twitched in fear, sending the plate she was currently scrubbing to slip out of her hands and shatter on the ground in front of her. "Shit! H-hi, Kerry!"

Flora set down the brush in the bucket and walked around to where she'd heard the plate smash. She sighed as she picked up the pieces. "It's a good thing I can afford to lose a few plates since someone's not eating anymore."

Kerry wrung their hands, unsure what exactly they'd walked in on. "So... what's up?"

Jordan tried to cross her arms and rest atop her bulk, but the suds in front of her sent her face bashing into her top with a squeaky noise and a great jiggle of flesh down the front slope. "Just d-doing some dishes. I told Flora I'd help her with the dishes if she'd... help me out, too."

Flora continued brushing, moving along to Jordan's front and tapping her feet to the rhythm of the beat. Kerry sat down on the pool chair in front of Jordan, craning his head to look up at her. "The bubbles on the dishes look like the same kind on your belly. Are you doing the dishes with body wash?"

Jordan figured she should grab another of the few remaining dirty dishes and hurry up before it got dark, but the mortification of her crush watching her get what was effectively a bath overrode her desire to do chores. "N-no, it's a dish soap that's supposed to be good on your hands. I figured... I mean, it'd work for both things and t-two birds, one stone, right?" She nervously chuckled.

Kerry laughed. "I can't argue with that. Wait, did Flora say you're not eating?"

"Yeah. Ever since yesterday, I just haven't been hungry. I've been as thirsty as all hell, so if you'd be a dear and toss me the hose once Flora's done with it, I'd appreciate it. But, no, not a bit hungry."

Kerry was about to reply in the affirmative, but Flora beat them to it. "Mom already said no, Jordan. You're plenty full as it is." She playfully jabbed into Jordan's side with the soapy brush, sending a small ripple of skin up to her top.

Kerry frowned and stared at the engorged mass before him. "Hmm, I wonder why though. Do you think you're digesting any of the water?"

Jordan tapped her fingers on her front and pondered. "No, I don't think so. I mean, I don't feel my belly gurgling like it would if I ate something. Well, besides the bubbles, but I don't think that counts. And-hey, Flora, you know what I didn't consider?" She turned as far around as she could to the left to direct her voice where Flora was now spraying.

"Your sunscreen and bug spray budget?"

"No, silly! I haven't pissed since I filled up."

Kerry snorted and blushed for the 50th time that day. Flora had lived with Jordan long enough to be used to her lack of a filter. "Well, do you need to?"

Jordan tapped her chin. "No, can't say I do. And... yeah, nothing's happening."

Kerry tilted his head. "What do you mean 'nothing's happening'?"

It was Jordan's turn to blush. "I... I tried. Just to see if I could."

"Then I guess you're staying like this indefinitely," said Flora, rinsing out the bucket as she'd just finished Jordan's bath.

Jordan flopped down onto her front and stretched her arms to touch her curve. "Yep! No complaints here."

Flora turned off the spigot and sighed, staring at the ground. "If I could possibly make one?"

Kerry turned back to her from his chair while Jordan returned Flora's sigh with another and propped herself up on one arm. "Here we go."

"I don't know if you noticed, but there are these things called seasons. Right now, it's summer, so being full of water outside is relatively fine. Though frankly, as often as we get afternoon thunderstorms, even right now is fairly dangerous for you. But ignoring that, what about when fall comes around and it's 40 degrees at night? Or the winter when it's 20 and your giant belly gets coated in ice and snow? Besides the fact the water inside you will probably freeze."

Jordan was silent for a moment. "That was the only tree remotely close to me in the yard, so we shouldn't have a repeat of today."

"Meaning you're now definitively the tallest thing in the vicinity besides the house. Meaning you could get struck by lightning. Which is honestly what I thought happened to you."

Jordan rubbed her front in an attempt to calm herself down. "But it didn't. We don't get that many storms. It'll be fine."

Flora began to slowly approach Jordan as she argued. "Then what about fall and winter?"

"We... I can buy a whole shit-ton of blankets. I can get some outdoor heaters they use for events and position them around my belly."

"Those run on gas. Besides the fumes and killing Mother Earth, you'd have to buy ridiculous amounts of gas. And you'd have to factor in the cost of hiring me as your maintenance woman because I'd have to be filling those things on an almost constant basis to the point I wouldn't be able to work."

Jordan tried to hide her tears of frustration by blinking them away. It wasn't working. "Maybe I will. Maybe-Maybe I'll hire you or Kerry or both of you part-time. And those huge corporations are the ones really causing all the pollution anyway, so my stupid little belly won't-"

"Jordan, this isn't sustainable and you know it."

Kerry slowly sank in the chair as if they could disappear by sinking into the ground. Unfortunately for him, Jordan needed back up. "Well, Kerry supports me! Right, Kerry?"

"I... I support you, Jordan. I do. But... but I think Flora has a point."

"What?"

Kerry sighed and stood up, placing his hand against Jordan's bulk. "If you want to stay like this for now, during the summer, that's fine. I mean, I'm not gonna lie and say I think it's safe per se. Maybe you could at least get a lightning rod for the house. But... but when it gets freezing out, you need a new game plan."

Jordan was beginning to stop pretending she wasn't crying out of anger and disappointment. "You're saying I need to go back to how I was? I need to get rid of what I worked so hard on? You said you understood me! That you knew what it was like to-to feel uncomfortable with how you look."

Kerry was a little upset Jordan decided to bring up this somewhat private conversation in front of Flora, but he realized Jordan was much more upset than him at the moment and simply hadn't considered what she was saying. They rubbed their hand along her to try to calm her down. "I do understand, Jordan. And I'm not giving up on helping you with that. I'm just saying you being outside like this isn't always going to be an option. But I promise I'll try to find a way to let you stay big some other way that's safe."

Flora stared at the back of Kerry's head. Couldn't they see Flora's goals were just not going to pan out? That this was a nice enough thing to try for a few days, but after everything that had happened and what would happen if Jordan continued this, it was time to go back to normal? She figured Kerry was thinking with something other than his brain at the moment.

Jordan heaved a sigh as huge as her mass and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I guess.... But you're right. I am going to stay out here for the rest of the summer at the very least. I know there might be more storms-"

"Will be. It's only July," Flora chimed in.

"And even if there are, if I get a lightning rod, I should be fine. I can handle a little rain. As for fall and after... we'll work something out. But I am staying my big watery self. No ifs, ands, or buts."

Flora went to the back door. "Fine, Jordan. I'm going to get some dinner. Kerry, you want anything?"

Kerry perked up and turned toward her. "If you don't mind, I'm starv-"

"Don't you have something you want to say to Kerry?" Jordan cut in, putting her hand on her chin like she was waiting.

Flora turned and blushed. "I-I'm sorry for being bitchy earlier. I was just... I'm worried about Jordan's safety since she can't do a whole lot by herself right now. And when I saw what-what one careless person could almost do... I wasn't sure if you really cared about her or were interested in her for something else."

"I care about Jordan more than anyone. Believe me when I say I don't have any ulterior motives and I'm not interested in her for... for all of this. I forgive you."

Kerry felt Jordan's belly jiggle in glee at her friend and crush reconciling. Flora chuckled. "Well, someone's happy."

"Sorry!" Jordan giggled. "I'm just happy you guys made up. Now, go and get some food. I'll finish up the dishes."

With that, Kerry kissed Jordan's side, sending a vigorous twitch through her whole left side. They doubled over laughing while Flora shook her head and went inside, followed shortly by Kerry. Things were finally somewhat calm, though knowing Jordan, they wouldn't be that way for long.


	14. Passer un mauvais quart d'heure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kerry shares with Flora and Jordan acquires a nickname

Dinner consisted of Rice Chex and an orange for Kerry and the rest of a bagel for Flora. As they sat at the dining room table, they tried to discuss trivial matters: what degree Kerry had, how long he'd worked at the cybersecurity firm, what they both thought of the latest Marvel movie. Eventually, however, the topic of conversation had to circle round to Jordan. "So when you say you're gonna try to help her stay like this in the fall and winter, what do you have in mind?"

Kerry nearly dropped his spoon. They'd almost forgotten the low-level animosity Flora had shown to him and her apology 15 minutes ago. "Um... not much at the moment.... I mean, I gue-"

"If you don't have a plan for what to do with her, why tell her she can still be like that?" Flora tried her best to not raise her voice, but Kerry's uncertainty was upsetting. "You're getting her hopes up by saying she can still have a huge belly then when there's really not much we can do."

For his part, Kerry was trying to be diplomatic. He loved Jordan and wanted her to live her life how she wanted. On the other hand, Jordan's life was currently being lived at her and Flora's shared house, so pissing her roommate off was probably a bad idea. "I'm sure there's a way she can stay that way when it's cold. I'm going to think of some ways to get her inside so she doesn't freeze."

"If you haven't noticed, these walls aren't 12 feet high," Flora gestured around the room. "And even if they were, she weighs... tons. Literally. We can't move her."

Kerry plopped an orange slice into their mouth and looked in the gold mirror across the table. Their reflection gave them the strength to tell Flora what she needed to hear. "Flora, I know you care about Jordan. You want her safe and happy. I do, too. And I know she isn't going to be happy if she can't stay like she is now. I...."

After a few seconds of silence, Flora frowned slightly. "You?"

Kerry sighed and closed his eyes, knowing he couldn't look at her while baring his soul. "I'm guessing Jordan told you I'm agender. Well, when I was a kid, I was pushed by my family, friends, teachers, everybody to be more like a-a boy. My dad made me play baseball for years even when I hated it. If I showed any interest in shows my sister liked, my mom would say 'that's for girls' and forbid me from watching it. But I found some friends in high school who didn't care if I wasn't manly and didn't want to be a man. They liked me for me and-and when I asked them to start using they for me, they did. It was... I can't tell you how amazing that felt."

Kerry opened their eyes to the mirror, taking in the smudged golden eyeshadow they'd applied half a day ago. "But when my parents found out I wanted my friends to use they and he and I was putting on a little makeup after I left the house and I wanted to wear skirts sometimes... they freaked out. They started by just grounding me for months. Checking me for makeup before and after school. T-Telling my teachers to... make sure I was only ever seen in jeans and a t-shirt. I think they were just waiting til it started to tell me, but... they put me in a conversion camp."

Flora gasped and started tearing up. She'd heard of these horrific places before, but hadn't known anyone in real life who'd been sent to one. "I-I don't remember that much of it. Just bits and pieces. I know it destroyed me. It made me question anything I'd ever wanted or felt about myself. It made me think I was this gross... thing who had to try to push this huge part of myself as far back in my mind as I could to be tolerated by the world. When I got out, I acted... I acted like the average teenage boy. I watched football and dated girls and all the other shit. But I felt... hollow. I'd look at myself in my dresser mirror every morning and tell myself 'this is how you have to be or they'll hate you.' This sounds... insane, but I think it would've been easier if I'd never met my first friends in high school who ended up being LGBT in one or more ways before going to the camp. Cuz I had the chance to explore and dress up and see what I wanted... and then it was taken from me."

Both Kerry and Flora were crying at this point. Flora gently laid her hand on Kerry's. "I'm so sorry, Kerry!"

Kerry looked to Flora with deeply weary eyes. "I didn't tell you all that to make you feel bad for me. It sucks; don't get me wrong. I told you so you know what taking Jordan's belly away will do to her. She's had a taste of what she wants. Of how she wants to look and be. And if you tell her she can't be like that anymore... it could kill her. It very nearly killed me."

"I understand now. I mean, not as much as I'm sure you do, but... I get it. I'll try to think of what we can do to get her inside or... something."

Kerry stood up and grabbed his dishes. "Thank you. Like I said, I don't know exactly what we're gonna do. I just know we have to do something. We'll figure it out."

Flora followed Kerry to the kitchen to clean up. "Definitely. Now, I guess I'll go spray down Jordan for the night before it's pitch black out."

Kerry cocked their head. "Spray her down? You just finished doing that."

"Oh, no. Bug spray. She-she had some issues with bugs last night."

Kerry placed his bowl in the sink to soak and followed Flora out the back door. Jordan was yanking on a piece of skin on her front right and struggling to peer that far over. "Yep, it's still skin," said Flora with a chuckle.

This shocked Jordan out of her reverie, causing her to release the skin, sending it rushing back to its former position. Her front and right side jiggled for several seconds as she replied, "For your information, I was just checking out the lovely still life you so graciously emblazoned on my canvas."

"Huh?"

"You drew a hand on me," Jordan said, pointing at said Sharpie outline.

Flora smirked. "So I did! I plum forgot about that. So, is it any smaller?"

"Maybe the artist should check for herself. It's your hand after all."

Kerry's eyebrows scrunched more and more as the conversation continued and Flora scaled the ladder to the top of her roommate. "What are you talking about?"

"Flora decided to see if my skin shrank from when I was 15 feet tall to now by tracing her hand on my belly."

Flora crossed Jordan's top to the graffitied corner, knelt down, and placed her hand against the marker. Sure enough, her hand fully covered the outline. "Hmm, it's hard to measure exactly, but I'd say the tracing is about... 20% smaller than my actual hand, meaning your skin shrank that much. Of course, there could be a different rate of shrinkage on different areas of your top. Like maybe-"

Jordan giggled. Flora turned to look down at her and raised an eyebrow. "Yes, peanut gallery?"

"You said shrinkage!"

Kerry couldn't help but join in on the chuckle fest. Flora pulled a travel-can of bug spray from her pocket and began spraying Jordan's right side, twitching the hand so much it looked like it was waving. "Eeeee! You really don't like warning people, huh?"

"Nope!"

Kerry noticed the sun had just set and the light was quickly fading to red. "Need me to help?"

Jordan smiled warmly and patted her front. "Sure, dear! There should be a box of them somewhere inside."

"Kitchen counter," Flora called as she continued her work up top.

While Kerry grabbed the box, Jordan frowned while trying to not wince at the cold spray being applied to her bulk. "Hey, if you scrubbed me off, why is your hand mark still there anyway?"

Flora mumbled something toward Jordan's back section. 

"I'm sorry, what?"

Flora sighed. "I said I might've used Sharpie."

"Sharp-FLORA! That's gonna take forever to come off! It's hardly even a little faded! I'll have to have Kerry get some steel wool and go to town on it."

"Not sure that's a good idea, but it'll come off eventually."

Kerry returned carrying the box and grabbed 5, stuffing them in his pockets and walking up to Jordan's front. They lovingly pressed their hand to her front. "Gonna start on your front, darling."

"See, someone thinks to give a girl no-SSSHHHH!" Jordan said to Flora before the cold crept up her side regardless.

"Yeah, fat lot of good that notice did, huh? Cold's still cold," Flora called from the back.

"It's the thought that counts."

Kerry pressed a kiss to a section he hadn't yet sprayed, then hummed. "You smell like lavender! Did you fill up on top of a lavender bush?"

"You got me. No, the dish soap we used earlier is French Lavender scented."

"What's French for belly?" Kerry asked.

"Le ventre," said Flora.

Jordan turned toward her left, feeling from the jitters rushing down there that Kerry was spraying away there. "Thinking about publishing in some French journal about me?"

"No, I wanted a suitable pet name, Le Ventre." Here, he gave another quick peck to her side, sending a quiver through her whole body. Flora held out her arms for balance. 

"Could you lovebirds possibly wait to make the beast with 2 backs until after I've flown the coop?"

Normally, Jordan would've come up with some witty repartee about how she's already the beast with 1 huge belly or some such hilarity, but she figured Kerry should handle this one. She assumed he'd say "No need to worry. No beasties in this neck of the woods."

Instead, they replied, "You're no fun," and continued their work.

Just as it started getting too dark to see, Flora and Kerry finished their application of bug spray. Flora descended the ladder and turned to Jordan. "You know, I could just leave the porch light off. That's mostly what attracts the bugs."

"Good idea. The light didn't keep me up last night, but anything that prevents bugs from coming round is fine by me."

Kerry walked back around to Jordan's front. "I don't work tonight, but I need to shower and change at home. I'll be right back though. Or... or do you just want to sl-"

"Please come back! I mean-I mean if you want to. If you just, you know, want to sleep in your own bed, I understand."

Flora opened the back door, yelled "Get a room! Oh, wait, that's physically impossible. Well, I'll be in my room then. Night!" and closed the door.

"Night!" yelled Jordan and Kerry. 

Kerry awkwardly turned back to Flora and dug his heel into the dirt. "You're-you're very comfortable, like you said, so I'd be honored to sleep on you... if you'd like."

It was impossible for them to see in the low light, but Jordan was blushing. "I would like. I'll be right here," she said, invitingly patting her massive frame.

Kerry hugged Jordan's side. Jordan shivered as she relished the feeling of having Kerry's entire body laying against her. She felt comfortable in the knowledge of her scale. "Be right back, Le Ventre."


	15. Time to Shine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flora and Kerry discover the properties of light and each other

"Honey, I'm home!" Kerry called into the yard, making their way from their truck to Jordan's bulk. At first, it was difficult to see her in the dark with no porch light, but he spotted the light of her cellphone hovering 12 feet above the ground. He heard rather than saw her reaction: her belly made a dull thumping sound as her feet kicked against it in excitement.

"Salutations!" cried Jordan. "Oh, did you bring goodies?"

Kerry adjusted his backpack against his back and set up the ladder. "Not much. Some snacks for me. Well, and you if you want them, though I'm guessing not."

"And mess up this pure squishiness? Forget it!"

Kerry alighted atop Jordan and stood still. "Oh, shit. It's a little dark up here." He grabbed his phone and turned the flashlight on. Then, they realized they still had their shoes on.

"Sorry! I guess I should take these off. Don't wanna be rude."

"Meh. You were up here before in your dress shoes. But yeah, since I'm newly freshened up, it can't hurt."

While struggling to untie his shoes one-handedly, Kerry dropped their phone to plop against Jordan's frame with the light facing Jordan's skin. Kerry's eyes instantly lit up, as did Jordan.

The light shined through Jordan's skin much like a flashlight held against one's hand, except this was a 12 foot mound full of water. The entire mass shone with an eerie red glow, some veins and arteries even visible on her top. The water inside Jordan's belly glowed like sunlight streaming to the bottom of a pool, refracting the light, illuminating the currents that constantly moved with her due to her main body's movements and any other touches, such as Kerry's feet.

"Oh, wow!" Kerry said in awe, kneeling down to reverently touch Jordan's skin.

Jordan was currently checking her phone, so she didn't notice her literal glow up. "I don't mean freshened up in that way! I mean-not to say I'm gross or anyth-"

"Jordan, look at your belly."

"That's 95% of my day, Kerry."

Kerry was still lightly stroking her top, watching the waves of light emanate from his hand as the water moved. "I'm serious! Look!"

They knew when Jordan looked down because she gasped and dropped her phone onto her glowing frame with a smack. "What did you do?"

"It's my phone. I have the flashlight on and I dropped it onto you." 

Kerry picked up his phone for a second to demonstrate. "NO! Put it back!"

They quickly did so, making Jordan shine once again. "You're gorgeous!"

Jordan giggled, sending swirling beams of moving water from her main body at the motion. Kerry quickly finished removing their shoes and crawled up to Jordan's main body, leaving his phone where it lay to continue enjoying his human nightlight. "It stops at your main body though."

She looked at her dark chest and legs. "Well, those parts have meat and bones. But... you think I'm pretty?"

Kerry was glad Jordan's glow didn't extend much past her belly since it meant his blush remained unseen. "I mean... yeah. And not just when I'm candling you."

Jordan snorted. "Do I want to know what candling is?"

Kerry gave her a confused expression before their eyes widened. "Not whatever you're thinking! It's when you hold an egg up to a candle or light to see if there's a chick growing in it."

"Are you saying there might be a chick in me?"

"I'm sure there was at some point."

Jordan's mouth nearly fell to her belly. "Aren't you being dirty tonight?" She began tickling Kerry's sides, sending him into fits of laughter as he fruitlessly tried to back up to Jordan's edge. The movement sent ripples of shimmering water to flow through Jordan's belly out from Kerry's body perched atop it. He gave as good as he got, possibly even better considering he wasn't anchored to a massive belly like she was. They ended up entwined in each other's arms, Jordan stroking his hair. "You really think I'm pretty?"

"Of course, Jordan. I've always thought you were pretty."

"But... like this?"

Kerry leaned back to look in her eyes. "You really need to ask that after what happened earlier?"

This reminder made Jordan freeze in her petting. She pulled her hand away from their hair like it burned and clasped her hands together. "I'm sorry."

Kerry tilted his head. "I told you, it wasn't your fault. I was just-"

"No, I mean, I'm sorry I was just... touching you. I need to remember you're not comfortable with that an-"

Kerry placed their hand on Jordan's shoulder, slightly shocking her. "Jordan, I'm not uncomfortable with touching. I'm fine with hugging and kissing and... stuff like that. Love it, in fact. Just not... that."

Jordan put her face in her hands. "Ugh. I'm sorry. I need to stop assuming things. It IS making me an ass."

"Well, the whole phrase is it makes an ass of you AND me. I need to remember you can't read my mind. And my particular hang-ups aren't the same across the board for ace people, so it's not even like you can read the manual and know exactly what makes me tick."

Jordan grabbed his hand, rubbing her thumb against his palm. "There's a manual?"

Kerry chuckled and kissed her hand. "Yes. It's very technical. Got an appendix and everything."

Jordan giggled. "I'm rubbing off on you. You're getting to be as dry as me."

Jordan's wording reminded Kerry of what he brought in his backpack. They tried not to look mortified and hoped the low light of Jordan's glowing belly wouldn't reveal their expression. "Speaking of..., I was thinking about it and-and even if I'm not... if I don't want to do things like that... you don't need to be left out. If we're going to date, I don't expect you to just-just go without."

Kerry reached back to the section of Jordan where he'd dumped the backpack, sitting slightly sunken into her form. They unzipped the top and pulled out a white device. Jordan craned her neck to see, though her shining form wasn't quite bright enough to reveal what it was. "Kerry, what are you talking about?"

Kerry considered just slinking down the ladder with his backpack and never seeing her again. It'd be less profoundly embarrassing. But no, he had to do this if he wanted to date her in any kind of fair way. He crawled back over her skin to her main body, holding the device behind his back. "I know I can't give you... everything. Like what your other partners gave you. But-but I can still... I can... oh, fuck-"

From behind their back, Kerry pulled out what they'd been hiding: a white, sleek vibrator. Jordan's eyes practically popped out of her skull. "Oh. Wow! OK. Um. Wow!"

"I-I-I figured I could... if you want to, of course-I could use it on you and-and that way you'd be... satisfied. And I wouldn't have to... do that, you know? Again, if you want-"

Jordan grabbed Kerry's hand; the other not currently holding a vibrator. This jolted him out of his terrified rambling. "Kerry, you don't want to do this, do you?"

Kerry managed to look up to Jordan's face, which calmed them slightly. Very slightly. "I-I do! I want you to... to be happy. And if I can't... if I can't make you happy, I can at least do that. I-I want to do that."

Jordan sighed. "It's not that I wouldn't enjoy that, cuz I'm sure I would and-is that a vibrate function that goes to the beat of a song?"

Kerry nodded.

"Yeah, no, I'd definitely enjoy that! But-you seem nervous about doing that. Really fucking nervous. And I'm not gonna feel good at all if you're uncomfortable with using that on me."

Kerry sighed and sat up. "It's not that I'm uncomfortable with doing that. I got it in the first place for that reason."

"Did-did you buy that... on the way home?"

Kerry snorted. "Dear goodness, no! I...," he sighed once again. "I got it years ago when I was dating someone."

Jordan couldn't quite hide her look of disgust as she stared at the vibrator now laying on her belly. Kerry realized how that must have sounded and said, "It's never been used!"

Jordan laughed about half as much as she wanted to and slammed her fist on her top in an attempt to hide how much the idea tickled her. Of course, Kerry felt the vibrations anyway. "Good!"

Kerry looked up at the stars as they continued. "My partner wanted to have sex. And of course, I didn't. We managed to stay together a while like that, but... he would throw these hints at me every once in a while. Things like how he wished HE was getting some. Or we'd watch some show and a character was having trouble getting laid and he'd say, 'I know the feeling.' I really wanted to stay with him though. I liked everything else about him. When those kind of remarks started coming more and more often, I... I bought that. I'd had sex with other partners before, but only when they pressured me a whole lot. But I couldn't stay with someone after I did that. All I could think when I saw them after that was 'I had sex with them' and it was just... too much. So I knew I couldn't do that with him, cuz I really wanted to stay with him. So... one night, I came home with... that and... pretty much told him what I'd told you...."

"But he didn't want to?"

"That's one way of putting it.... He laughed. Then he acted offended. Like how dare I try to act like that was... any kind of substitute for the real thing. Said he'd only ever dated trans men before cuz it was easier to be accepted as one himself, but... but wanted some real... real dick this time. And he thought I was-was the perfect compromise. Not a man, but I went by he/him and I-I had the parts, so close enough.... And I was nice, so bonus. My bringing out the... the vibrator was the nail in the coffin. He knew I definitively wasn't going to-to put out. So he left me."

Jordan placed her hand over Kerry's. "Kerry, I'm sorry. He was an asshole."

Kerry looked over to her and the corner of their mouth perked up slightly. "That's why I was nervous. I'm fine with-with using it on... on someone. But I was just afraid you'd... you'd react the same way. Like I was cheating you out of something."

Jordan beckoned Kerry to her side. He curled up on his side, holding his hand against the expanse of skin in front of her to ground him in its comforting red light. The tiny arteries covering her bulk made him feel connected to her as he traced them with his finger. "You're not cheating me out of anything. I have you. That's all I want. I'd be perfectly happy to take whatever you'll give me, but only if you're also perfectly happy with giving it. I... I love you-"

Kerry looked up from their hand to Jordan's face, staring back at them with eyes watery enough to match her belly. "-for who you are. I don't want anything you aren't; anything you don't want to give me."

Kerry wrapped his hand behind Jordan's head, careful to avoid the gash, and pulled her into a kiss. It wasn't passionate in the sense of darting tongues and heavy breathing, but it conveyed the passion between them. It spoke to how long it had been waiting to happen, how fervently both parties wanted to show each other their love. It lasted forever and yet not nearly long enough. Kerry nuzzled their nose to Jordan's cheek. "I love you, too."

Jordan turned her lips to her lover's ear. "Show me."

\-----------------------

Flora yawned and looked to the clock hanging on her bedroom wall. As much as she wanted to finish the latest crossword puzzle murder mystery novel, she needed to work most of the day tomorrow. Placing a bookmark in the tome, she got up, stretched, and ambled over to the window. Considering last night's adventure, she wanted to make sure all was well with her watery friend before she settled in for the night. She didn't assume she'd see much with the porch light off, but to her surprise, she did.

She rushed through the house to the living room, wondering all the while what possible reason Jordan would have to be glowing like an oblong Chinese lantern. If she'd decided to swallow some lightning bugs, Flora thought she might vomit. When she approached the window, however, she got a better idea. She watched as the shining ball of flesh and water rhythmically jiggled. As she listened longer, she distinctly heard the beat of "Don't Stop Me Now" and realized the pulses shaking the giant balloon went in time with the beat. At this angle, Flora could see through the glistening orb's side and top where Jordan's dark body was silhouetted; her hands clutching her top, her legs bowed slightly forward. Another dark figure took a similarly black device and pushed it into the glowing, flowing orb, leaving it temporarily suspended in the red light.

Flora had only a few moments of utter confusion before shutting the curtain. Maybe she could stay up a little longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to leave the ending up to the imagination, but then I realized what that would look like from the ground floor and I couldn't resist. I've never written an actual sex scene before, but if anyone wants a more detailed play-by-play of their time together, hit me up.


	16. You Know What That Is? Growth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kerry, Jordan, and Flora bathe in the afterglow and begin to prepare for Jordan's future. Some preparations go better than others.

Jordan awoke to the same sight she'd seen the past 2 days: a wall of her own skin. Her sheer size and volume never failed to bring a smile to her face. Her contents were starting to get a tad lukewarm for her liking, but she was sure she could convince Kerry to slip her a swig of cool water from the hose while Flora worked later in the day. She may even grow a couple imperceptible inches if she felt feisty. In the dim light of the morning, she turned her head to see her lover. They were currently stretching their toes back against her belly and yawning. Kerry turned to face Jordan; well, more precisely, to face her face. It was difficult to not face Jordan's belly when standing in her backyard. "Morning, Le Ventre," he mumbled.

Jordan's mass couldn't help but shiver in delight at hearing her new nickname. She felt like Gomez Adams with her appreciation of her partner's newfound appreciation for French. Kerry shook a bit as his bed rumbled beneath him. Then, his own belly gurgled in hunger. "Glad I brought snacks."

Sitting up to their backpack, Kerry opened the flap on the side to pull out a cereal bar. From the inside, he grabbed a bottle of apple juice. As they placed the bottle down to open the bar's packaging, Jordan's belly shivered. "Ah! That's cold!"

The apple juice sloshed in its bottle at the sudden jiggle. Kerry quickly picked it up and rubbed Jordan's cheek. "Sorry, darling!"

Jordan licked her lips at watching the cool juice pour down Kerry's throat. "I'm feeling a little dry over here. Do you have another bottle in there for little old me?"

"Little?"

Jordan looked around to her left side, then her right, before returning her gaze to Kerry and shrugging. "Meh. I could be bigger. But seriously, you got more juice?"

Kerry side-eyed her. "Didn't Flora say this was as big as you were gonna get? I don't wanna step on any toes."

Jordan held her fingers up to the bottle, then down to her mass as a comparison. "What's 1 eensy bottle of juice gonna matter to all this?" She grabbed a bit of herself in her hand and wiggled it back and forth. "It wouldn't be a drop in my humongous bucket."

Kerry tilted their head as he unzipped the backpack. "Wait, I thought you were strictly taking in water now."

She tapped her chin with her finger, then shrugged once again. "I mean, it'll quickly dilute itself among thousands of gallons of water. If you took a sip of me in a couple hours, you'd probably just taste pool water."

Kerry giggled. "Remind me not to drink up your belly." He kissed the top of the behemoth, causing another ripple of mirth through the area.

They handed off the second cold bottle, which Jordan hurriedly opened and held to her mouth. She opened her throat, allowing the juice to pour into her stomach unimpeded by such silly things as swallowing. She relished the feeling of cold liquid entering her belly, concentrating around the still bruised sliver that connected her main body to her stomach. She laid down on her bulk and looked up at Kerry. "You wouldn't happen to have another few gallons in there, huh?"

Kerry smirked. "Alas, no. Plus, like I said, I dare not face Flora's wrath at you growing."

Jordan sighed. "Maybe I should move somewhere on my own where my size is my own business."

Kerry finished the cereal bar and clasped Jordan's hand, holding it against her belly. "Flora and I talked about that yesterday."

"What?"

He seemed to realize how that came out. "Not that she wants you to leave! I meant in the long term, like for fall and winter."

"I still think my idea of putting heaters around me is perfectly fine. I have some money saved up! It's how I was able to take this sabbatical in the first place."

"Sure, but... what about after that's up? Do you have a job lined up that...."

Jordan pulled her hand away from theirs and looked up at them. "That?"

Kerry sighed. "That'll accommodate your belly."

"I was designing websites. That's all virtual anyway. Whenever I start back up, I can just plop a laptop on me and get to coding."

"Would that be enough to pay for a big storage unit?"

Jordan's eyebrows furrowed. "Yes.... Why?"

Kerry turned to lay on their side. "I was thinking, some storage units have heat and A/C in them. And you can get ones of different sizes. I was thinking that could be a good option to-to house you when it's cold."

Jordan hummed. "But I don't wanna be shut away in a unit all on my lonesome!"

Kerry rubbed her shoulder. "Oh, no, I'd live there with you."

"Might be a little snug for you, though. I mean, as big as they get, there might not be much more than a few feet on any given side of me."

"I wouldn't need room for a bed obviously," Kerry said, patting Jordan's top. "And there might be enough room for a mini fridge and TV."

Jordan smiled, then frowned once again, laying her head against Kerry's shoulder. "Ugh, but how do we get me in there? I mean, I can't exactly fit in a car."

"Hmm... forklift? Dump truck? Crane?"

Jordan blanched. "Are you kidding? I'm not cheap meat here!" She smacked her top, sending ripples around her. "That all requires setting me on or in sharp metal. Even if it could take my weight... I don't think it'd be safe."

Kerry stood up and began to pace around Jordan's back half, his feet sinking a couple inches into her top with each step. Jordan laid down against her belly and closed her eyes at the gentle, relaxing massage his motions gave to her bulk. "We could build a shed or building around you out here."

"I don't think that'd take care of the cold problem. I mean, we couldn't put down any kind of floor under me and the ground would still freeze. Plus, we'd have to find someone we trust to build it since we don't know how and... I don't know anyone who works in construction."

Kerry stopped their pacing for a moment. Jordan tried not to look too upset. "I do have a basement if we could find some way to get you inside."

"Is it tall enough for me?"

"Not quite. The ceiling's about 8 feet high, but I do have a huge sun room. It's 12 by 12."

"No can do, then. This puppy's 15 feet round," Jordan said, pulling her feet in an arch across her top as if to accentuate her roundness.

"Right, but if we got you in the basement, I could cut a hole in the basement ceiling. That way, most of you could sit in the basement and there'd be a little aperture for your main body to peek out."

Jordan tapped her chin. "I'll think on it if you hand me another apple juice."

"Done," Kerry said, returning to their backpack.

Flora opened the back door, dressed in a silk, purple bathrobe and holding a cup of coffee. "Morning."

Kerry returned her greeting while Jordan held up her finger. She poured the apple juice down her open throat, burped, and smacked her lips. "Morning!"

Flora's eyebrows raised as she sat down on the pool chair. "I thought you were purely H2O?"

"Meh, it's liquid. Plus, someone won't let me cool down with my original recipe, so I had to improvise."

"Yes, I'm a cruel master. Also, speaking of purely H2O, what's with the burp?"

Jordan tilted her head, then confidently rested her head against her bulk. "Well, I'm sure I swallowed a little air when I chugged the juice, just like anyone else."

Flora sipped her drink and remembered her primary reason for coming outside. "You don't do many things like anyone else, Jordan. Speaking of, how was it being a literal fleshlight?"

Kerry choked on their own spit and began to cough. Beneath his feet, Jordan's belly turned pale from her main body in a circle around her entire form. "You... you saw that?"

Flora held her hands and sat up. "Hey, I'm not judging! What two consenting adults do with a giant, glowing belly is none of my business. I'm just curious how you accomplished it."

Jordan smirked. "Well, see, it has a feature where it vibrates in time with a song, so naturally, I went with 'D-"

Kerry placed his hand on her shoulder. "Dear, she means your glowing."

Jordan's eyes grew large and she looked to her front. "Oh. Um, Kerry d-dropped his phone on me with the flashlight on."

"Oh."

"What do you mean 'oh'? I was beautiful! How are you not impressed by that?"

"It's not that I'm unimpressed. I just figured you swallowed some lightning bugs or glow sticks or something."

Jordan rubbed her chin and looked to the sky. 

"Jordan, no," said Kerry and Flora together. All three of them cracked up at how in sync they were.

"Are you about to start work soon?" Jordan asked Flora.

"Yes, but I came out here to make a proposal for your homework today."

Jordan rested her chin on her fist. "Yes?"

"If you're going to move inside somewhere for your hibernation, you'll need to shrink down first."

"I told you I'm not going anywhere right now! I ordered a lightning rod yesterday evening. We still have months before I need to go in."

"I know. I'm just saying it's a good idea to test out your body's ability to shrink and how it makes you feel before we get to that point. We don't want to wait until fall to realize you can't handle being human-sized for a little bit."

"And how do you propose I shrink?" said Jordan, gesturing to her belly. "Where's all this gonna go?"

"We have the pump. We basically do the reverse of the past 2 days: the hose will suck water out of you and into the yard."

Jordan shook her head petulantly. "Nuh-uh. It'll feel terrible and I'll lose all my voluptuous curves."

"You can fill up on cold, refreshing hose water again after."

"She does have a point."

"Excellent!" Flora clapped and stood up. "Now, I'm going to get dressed and get ready for work, then come out to get the pump set up."

With that, Flora went inside, leaving Kerry to kneel down by Jordan's main body. "Are you gonna be OK here without me?"

"Without you? I thought you worked the early shift?"

"I do. I figured I could check out the local warehouses and storage units to see if they'd accommodate your belly. I'll get some quotes and photos and bring them back."

Jordan kissed him on his clothed chest, the closest part she could reach that he'd want her to kiss. "You're perfect, you know that?"

"I've been told that.... But really, will you be OK? Going back to... not being like this?"

Jordan sighed. "Flora's right, as much as I hate to admit it. And when I finally have to go wherever I end up going, I'll have to be smaller longer than this, so it's a good trial run. And, like she said, I can be nice and cool for another several hours after I fill back up."

Kerry smiled and kissed the top of her head. "I'm glad you're thinking positively. I'll be back as soon as I can, Le Ventre."

As they descended the ladder, Jordan called after them. "And get some real breakfast! A growing babe like you needs some protein!"

He chuckled and bopped her left side as he walked around it, sending a full-body quiver through her. "Will do, darling!"

Jordan sighed contentedly and rested her head against her front, waiting for her roommate to return and shrink her.

\---------------------------

Flora double-checked the pump was set to flow the right way and looked up to Jordan's massive belly. The tiny woman laying atop her giant stomach let the garden hose slide all the way down her open throat to splash into the gallons of water inside her. She pushed it down to about 4 feet below her water line and closed her lips around it.

"Righto. Just flip the switch when you're back to, well, not normal for you, I guess, but human-sized. I'll be working on proposals for Dyna-Tech's website all day. Just think small thoughts. Trick your body into wanting to be smaller. I mean, the only reason you got so big is your belly wants to be big, so if you want it bad enough, you can shrink back down. You got this, champ."

Jordan gave a quick smile around the hose down her mouth and a thumbs up. With that, Flora flipped the switch on the pump. Water began shooting out of the hose into the grass, trickling down the slight slope of the side yard. Flora stared at it as she considered whether the chlorine from Jordan's bulk would kill the grass, but shrugged as she realized Jordan's belly had already trampled a significant portion of the yard anyway, so her landscaping was screwed already. She gave the giant belly one last pat of moral support and entered the back door.

For her part, Jordan was at least a little more chipper than she had been earlier. While the concept of her magnificent mass draining and shrinking was upsetting, the feeling of her water line slowly moving down her insides felt pretty damn good. She could even feel the currents of water being pulled from her sides and bottom into the hose. There was also a level of satisfaction of actually seeing the water that had compromised her bulk. Both times she had filled up, the sheer amount of water she ingested was fairly abstract to her. True, she had initially drained the pool, but it hadn't taken long before she could no longer see it. The second time, the water pumped into her had come straight from the tap, so she hadn't seen a drop of it, only felt it. Now, she watched her contents pour down the yard to soak into the grass. Jordan felt like she was part of the water cycle, feeding the grass, weeds, and few small trees her old water touched. Of course, she didn't consider the chlorine content of most of her contents, so the idea that she was likely doing more harm than good was lost on her.

It didn't take long before she felt her top start to collapse into her receding water line. She followed Flora's instructions and tried to imagine herself shrinking, becoming a smaller and smaller ball until she eventually returned to... normal. Whatever that was. She quickly realized this line of thinking wasn't working. She felt and looked flabbier than when she'd first lost 2 feet of water. She had to admit it felt nice to feel her loose folds gently graze her water line, like trailing her hand against the surface of a pool; however, the notion that she was so flimsy and growing smaller tainted the feeling. Still, Jordan told herself she needed to shrink. Her skin needed to zip down to enclose her diminishing girth. If her skin stayed the same, even without thousands of gallons of pool and tap water inside her, she'd still weigh entirely too much to move. 

As she reached 6 feet in height, she tried to imagine the feeling of putting on one of those face treatment masks Flora and she bought every few months to unwind. The stretching and tightening clay, rose water, and no doubt various chemicals that actually did something pulling her face skin taut before she washed it off. She pictured her entire form coated in the pink goo and baking in the summer sun, pulling her skin tighter and tighter. 

It did nothing.

Once she got down to 4 feet tall, Jordan pictured the tiny, cheap dinosaur-shaped sponges her mother had bought for her as a kid. She placed them in a bowl of water and watched them swell 4 times their size into colorful, spongy outlines of T-rexs and plesiosaurs. She imagined the reverse; some great force pulling the water from the squishy monsters, shrinking them into their tightly-packed, minuscule forms once again. She pretended she was one such toy that had been allowed to grow out, but that some cruel trick of fate had made time flow backwards for her, ripping the water from her and packing her into her original, dry shape.

She was still a mess of flabby skin.

Once her water line was only 2 feet thick, it was beginning to get hard to tell exactly how much water was left in her. The mounds of excess skin rose over top of Jordan's main body like she was a giant laying in a valley sandwiched between two mountain ranges. The pull of the water could be felt on practically every bit of her skin still touched by it. Of course, the drops of water that had clung to her sides and still dripped down her insides felt tremendous. Her belly attempted to shiver at such sensations, but considering its bizarre new form, said shivers resulted in the piles of skin aimlessly flapping against each other, slapping Jordan's main body like some Lovecraftian creature. Naturally, seeing her belly take on this nightmarish appearance didn't help her think positive thoughts of shrinking. Even imagining herself as she was merely days ago-working, cleaning, cooking, even watching TV-did nothing to bring her to a more manageable size.

Then, just as Jordan thought she'd experienced the worst of it, her body somehow betrayed her.

Once her belly had only a few inches of water line to go, Jordan came to a horrifying realization. Flora had said Jordan could simply turn off the pump once she was all dry and back to a fully-functioning human; however, the latter event hadn't happened, so the former was impossible. Even if she could stand up on top of the mounds of belly skin still attached to her, the pump was several feet away. Jordan's skin weighed hundreds of pounds. She had no chance of turning off the pump. And as she knew from when she was first filled, the pump was perfectly capable of pumping air. When she'd called to Flora to turn off the pump, it had still been spewing air instead of pool water. 

At first, Jordan was cautiously optimistic. Surely the pump would just suck all the air from her belly. Holding her throat open had let some air pour into her now empty cavity. The pump would simply suck out this air, then burn itself out or shut itself off if it encountered a vacuum.

Then, Jordan felt the end of the hose that sat along her bottom suck onto her insides. It wasn't the best feeling in the world at first. It felt like the hickies her boyfriend gave her in freshman year of high school. Again, she told herself the pump would merely fry itself from getting nothing but belly skin and then she'd be free.

She laid with the hose sucking against her inner belly skin for roughly 10 seconds before the pump began to whir and smoke. It seemed to take the blockage as a challenge, though most likely, it was simply a natural result of the vacuum building in the now empty hose. The suction against Jordan's bottom began to hurt like nothing she'd felt before. If it had previously felt like a hicky, this felt like her boyfriend had decided to tear the flesh from her by any means necessary. She cried against the hose down her throat as she felt her tender skin pull a little further into the end of the hose.

Futilely, Jordan tried to pull the hose from her throat with both hands as she stood up on her shaking feet. The suction was far too powerful for her to wrest the hose from her bottom skin. Distantly, she felt the skin around the end of the hose pull up from the ground slightly as she attempted to raise the hose off her. She even planted her feet on either side of the hose, staring at the way she could see its outline through the flab of skin that had previously been her belly, and yanked at the hose with all her might. If anything, it simply hurt more.

Then, Jordan's body decided to make its own decisions once again. It decided that if the pump wasn't going to give up, perhaps it could. Just along the area where the hose had affixed itself, Jordan's skin softened ever so slightly. It was barely perceptible and, had she been her original size, it's doubtful anyone would have noticed. But Jordan certainly noticed, for the loosened skin began to snake its way further down the hose.

When she realized what was happening, she tried to scream, but the hose blocked most noise. If she thought she'd been in pain before, she didn't know what to call this. She doubled over and fell to her side from the horrifying feeling of her belly being pulled through the garden hose. It was like the world's worst Chinese finger trap being used on nearly the most sensitive part of her body. As her skin pulled up into the tube, her body loosened in a circle around the hose, preparing to be sucked in after itself. Through the haze of pain and tears, she realized what had previously been her belly had now reached the part of the hose exiting her mouth, effectively forming a concealed, second tongue. If Jordan had been able to see beneath her bottom, she would have seen a belly button-like hole growing deeper and deeper as more of her was siphoned into the hose.

Jordan couldn't say how long the torture lasted. They say new experiences seem to take longer than routine activities. If so, time was immeasurably slow for Jordan this morning. Finally, the tip of her flesh tube entered the pump itself. It began to coil through the innards until reaching the tiny motor. A new form of pain sprung up at the end of her new nub as it touched the hot metal of the motor. With nothing more to suck, the motor died and left the backyard a quiet, terrifying mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear I don't plan on having Jordan suffer much after this and the next chapter. I also didn't expect to delve into body horror territory beyond the inherent nature of inflation, but it just came to me.


	17. Under Pressure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kerry and Flora attempt to free Jordan from her latest predicament.

Kerry pulled into Flora and Jordan's driveway with a few new additions. For starters, he'd brought a few more snacks, figuring his now tiny girlfriend may be hungry once she had a relatively normal belly. They also had a few facts and figures about nearby storage units written on a notepad and a couple print-outs about warehouses for sale or rent. He pictured Jordan sitting on his lap, a previously impossible situation, as he listed off the pros and cons of each way to store her glorious belly. Grabbing their goodies, they walked through the side yard to greet their newly-compacted lover. "I come bearing gif-JORDAN!"

To say Kerry was shocked was an understatement. Jordan looked like she was laying on a giant, skin-tone tarp, though this was clearly not the case. Her eyes were bloodshot and teary and her main body shook with fear and pain. From her mouth trailed the hose and, subsequently, more of her. Kerry rushed to her side, careful not to step on the piles of skin all around her body. "Fuck! Are you OK?!"

Jordan attempted to move her head to look up at her partner's voice, but the idea of feeling the painfully constricted extension of her move was far too disconcerting. Instead, she looked up to his eyes through her tears. 

Kerry frowned and tried to pull the hose from Jordan's mouth. She screeched in pain against the hose. The noise was muffled, but clearly still a cry of anguish. "What?! What is it? Sorry!"

Jordan struggled to focus through the feeling of her skin so tightly crammed into the tiny hose. Once again, she had no way of communicating what had happened to her, but she gave it her best shot. She stared at the pump, disturbed by the knowledge and feeling that her newly stretched and developed appendage was sitting inside it. Kerry followed her eyes and ran to the pump. He looked back to her, confused by why she couldn't simply spit out the hose and why doing so would hurt. They unscrewed the hose from the pump using the washer. As the hose came loose, he realized it couldn't pull too far off of the pump and he quickly saw the horrible reason why. Inside the small space between the hose and the pump was a hose-sized cylinder of flesh.

Kerry wanted to vomit, but they knew that wouldn't help Jordan. He ran back to her and placed his hand against her cheek. "It's gonna be OK! I'm gonna get some tools so I can take apart the pump. I'll be right back, OK? I love you!"

Kerry ran inside through the back door. It occurred to them they had no idea where Flora kept her tools. He yelled through the house. "FLORA!"

A few seconds later, Flora ran into the living room, clearly upset at being interrupted. "I'm on a call with my supervisor! What cou-"

"Jordan's hurt! I need tools: screwdriver, pliers, box cutter, anything!"

Flora's eyes bugged out and she ran back to her office. "Fuck! Um, garage: red tool cabinet. I have to get off the call. I'll be right there!"

Kerry was already out the door to the garage before Flora finished her sentence. He yanked open the drawers of the tool cabinet top to bottom, grabbing whatever he possibly thought he could use to extract Jordan from the pump and hose. He rushed through the house and out the back door to Jordan, who was still lying on her side, shivering. They approached the pump and dropped everything but the screwdriver, then faced Jordan. He needed to explain what he was doing to make her feel even the smallest bit calmer at what was happening. "I'm gonna unscrew the housing so I can get to-to you, OK?"

Jordan wasn't capable of doing much besides staring at her lover and crying. Kerry began unscrewing the two halves of the pump, removing and placing them on the ground to uncover its inner workings. He saw the small motor seated at the bottom of the pump with the tip of Jordan's skin sat against one of the intake valves. From there, it snaked its way through a metal tube to the edge of the now-exposed pump where the fiberglass housing once sat. "Jordan, I'm gonna pull... you out the pump from the end of the hose, OK?"

If Kerry had said just about anything at that moment, Jordan still would've nodded as much as she could. The sheer pain of her flesh crammed through feet of hose made her virtually incapable of paying attention. Kerry looked back to the flesh tube where it emerged from the pump and gently pulled on it. The sensation of her skin being touched by human hands frightened Jordan. It wasn't that it hurt anymore than anything else she was experiencing at the moment, but the visceral reminder that her body had become whatever the hell it currently was. It made her long for yesterday when an air pocket was her biggest bodily concern.

Kerry was surprised to find Jordan's flesh came out of the pump fairly easily, taking only 10 seconds. They gripped the hose that still held most of the new appendage to prevent it from falling to the ground and let the freed skin go. It sagged toward the ground like skin-colored string cheese. He noticed the very end of it was blood red and determined the pump must've burned the tender skin. It occurred to them this was the least of her worries at the moment and found that knowledge horrifying.

Flora chose this time to run out the back door to Jordan's side, screaming. She hadn't known precisely how Jordan had been hurt and seeing her saggy form draped across the dirt made her think for a moment she was dead. When she recognized her friend was alive, but in mind-numbing pain, she caressed her head and murmured platitudes and assurances that she was so, so sorry and it would all be fine. Flora looked up to Kerry with teary eyes. "What can I do?!"

Kerry looked back to Jordan's mouth and the hose trailing out of it. "We need to cut the hose off her."

"What?! Off of her? Just pull it out!"

Kerry shook his head and yelled "NO!" before Flora could make to yank the hose like he had. "It won't come out. I tried. It's-It must be stuck... on her skin in there."

"What do you mean?! Why would it b-FUCK!"

Flora hadn't truly understood what Kerry meant until she spied the string of flesh hanging out of the hose in their hand. She paled at the idea of what exactly she was seeing. "If it won't come off her body, we need to cut the hose off her in 1 line. The only problem is either end since they're metal. The box cutter-it should go through the hose part, but not metal."

"But it'll go through h-her, too! We can't do that!"

Kerry looked to Jordan's frightened eyes. He knew she couldn't understand him, but he still hated what he was about to say. "There's no other way. Her skin's so tight in it, it won't just pull out. The only other thing I can think is...."

"What?!"

Kerry sighed. "P-Pull the hose the rest of the way out of her stomach and... and cut off the bit that got pulled up."

Flora turned as white as a sheet and looked at the ground. "No. The first way. What do I do?"

"I can start cutting along the hose part with the box cutter. I'll be really careful so I don't-don't nick her... too much." They both winced as they realized no matter how careful Kerry was, there was a high probability he'd end up cutting the appendage at least a little. 

"Do you have tin snips? Something that can cut through metal?"

Flora nodded and got up. "Yeah. I'll get them. And Kerry... Kerry, please be careful."

"I will."

As Flora went through the house to the garage, Kerry clicked the sharp edge of the box cutter into position and held up the end of the hose. They pressed the blade against the hose directly where it started against the metal end. He quickly realized it took much more pressure than he anticipated to cut through a hose with a box cutter. Of course, a saw or chainsaw would have made quick work of it, but they also would slice right through Jordan, so slow and steady needed to win this race. Gradually, after several seconds of back and forth sawing against the garden hose, a sliver appeared in the hose. As Kerry gently worked along the sliver to try to extend it further, Jordan's pressurized skin burst through the gap and slightly into the blade. Kerry quickly pulled away the blade and gasped. Mercifully, the cut was no wider than his pinky toenail, but it was still a cut. They weren't sure whether to be glad or sad that Jordan didn't even make a noise at being cut. It meant she was already in so much pain, the cut didn't even register.

Flora returned with the tin snips and walked up to Kerry. She spotted the cut and held her hand to her mouth. Part of her wanted to yell at him for fucking up, for hurting her friend, but the thought flew from her mind when it dawned on her that this was all her fault. If she hadn't trusted Jordan's belly to behave and shrink down so she could turn off the pump, if she had simply done whatever work she could outside while Jordan expelled her water, Kerry wouldn't be sawing a newly-grown appendage out of a hose with a box cutter. Flora wondered how much more anguish she could possibly put her roommate through.

Meanwhile, Kerry had worked their way down the hose to about 5 inches away from Jordan's mouth. As the hose split open further and further, her skin emerged and was cupped inside it. Kerry realized snipping the metal hose end would let the remaining skin free to fall to the grass below. "Flora, do you want to cut the metal with the tin snips?"

"Sure," said Flora, cautiously holding the snippers.

She grabbed the metal end between her fingers toward the underside, pretending she didn't feel Jordan's skin tube laying along her hand. Flora opened the tin snips and crammed the bottom end of its snippy bits between the hose end and her friend's flesh. It was a fairly tight fit and she considered not doing it, but she realized this was somehow the least dangerous option. Just as Kerry was doing, Flora worked at the metal as gently as possible. It was slow going since the metal was thick for this kind of tool. She also couldn't open the snips as much as normal since they would open into the skin below them. Finally, a line was cut through the metal. Flora looked down to the ground and picked up the pliers Kerry had discarded earlier. Delicately, she pulled either end of the metal apart until the appendage could easily slip out. 

Flora looked up to see what progress Kerry had made and blanched. They were now right up to Jordan's mouth. He set the box cutter down for a moment, clicking it into its sheath. As close as he was to Jordan's rolls of skin, he didn't want the blade out if he wasn't holding it. Kerry rubbed his hand over her hair to try to soothe her and get her attention as much as possible. "Jordan, honey, we're almost done, OK? I just-we need to cut the hose that's... that's in you, OK? So, I'm gonna pull it out. It's-It's gonna feel weird, but it'll be really quick. I love you so much, Le Ventre."

Kerry looked to Flora and tried to fight back the tears at what they were about to do. "Flora, I need you to find on the outside where the hose is up against, then push it toward her mouth when I start pulling, OK?"

Flora tilted her head for a moment, then seemed to realize what Kerry was going to do. "Kerry... Kerry, I can't-we shouldn't-"

He tried to keep his voice as calm and quiet as possible to avoid scaring Jordan. "We can't go down her throat, so we need to get it up here. It shouldn't take long."

Flora lightly nodded and walked to Jordan's right side. She gently lifted Jordan's folds, attempting to feel for the hose through the skin. Once she found it, she traced it along to where it stopped. The slightly puckered hole formed where her skin had started its impossibly long journey was the straw that broke the camel's back. Flora turned behind her and vomited.

Kerry looked away as he continued to rub Jordan's cheek. He spoke calming words to her through the sound of Flora retching to hide it from her. When Flora finished, she walked back to where she knew the horrid sight was and held it in her hands, trying to grab anywhere but the hole itself. "Now," said Kerry.

As Flora pushed the area toward Kerry, Kerry pulled the hose. Jordan was clearly in pain to begin with, but the feeling of more of her own body being pushed past her throat and her bottom being pushed toward her mouth was deeply unsettling. Despite so many other aspects of her body being uncanny, this was nearly too much to take. She closed her eyes and tried to remember why the fuck she'd ever wanted a stupidly huge belly in the first place.

After half a minute of gentle pushing, Kerry looked down Jordan's throat to see the other metal hose end. Attached to it was the inside of Jordan's belly, visible for the first and hopefully last time. It looked like the inside of her cheek, but slightly redder. The area immediately next to the hose was slightly purple, as it had bruised under such immense suction. Jordan's eyes shot open. She felt her bottom skin slide up her throat and into her mouth. She thought she was turning inside out, that she'd soon be pulled entirely through her own mouth and open her eyes to the darkness of her outside-made-inside. Her partner's breath was panting against her inner belly skin, tickling it, and it terrified her to no end. 

Kerry had planned on cutting the remainder of the hose as slowly and meticulously as the previous section, but when they saw Jordan's look of unbridled fear at what was happening, they knew they needed to speed up. He understood even if he cut her more than the 1 time he had at the beginning of the first section, the knowledge it was over would be worth it to her. They worked double-time at cutting the hose, managing to only cause a few tiny nicks to Jordan's flesh tube. Finally, Kerry reached the last metal hose end against the inner belly wall. 

At first, Kerry planned on having Flora use the tin snips once again; however, after seeing her reaction to that other part of Jordan's body, he figured he couldn't risk her having the same reaction to seeing her roommate's innards. "Tin snips," he said to Flora, holding out his hand.

Flora unquestioningly handed the tin snips over and Kerry set to work. Soon, the metal was snipped, the pliers were applied, and the destroyed hose was tossed aside. Kerry held Jordan's head in their lap and wiped away her tears with their fingertips. He looked to Flora, then to the section of Jordan's bottom she'd pushed up to her throat. Flora understood what he meant and gently moved the section back to its original place among Jordan's folded skin. 

Suddenly, all 3 sets of eyes were drawn to the tip of Jordan's fleshy tube. Bit by bit, the skin was slowly shrinking and withdrawing from whence it came. At its point of origin, it smoothed back into its host, returning to its original consistency. Jordan's body knew it was free from the pressurized confines to which it had succumbed and that this was not its proper form. This had merely been a necessity. After 2 minutes, the line of flesh had fully retreated inside its home and faded back into Jordan's belly. As soon as her appendage was no more, Jordan began to sob, holding onto Kerry's legs like her life depended on him because, for the past several minutes, it had.


	18. Restoration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kerry and Jordan work on getting Jordan back to normal in more ways than one

When Jordan awoke, it was to the sight of her own skin. The past few days, this had been a comforting sight. It meant her belly was full of water and sprawled across the ground for her to lay atop and her roommate and lover to dote on. That she was as big and round and sloshy as she wanted to be. Now, however, it was upsetting. 

Her belly skin still lay lumped up in folds around and below her main body. It was slightly damp inside, but there was no longer any kind of water line to be found. The hose had seen to that. The hose! 

Jordan turned her head in a panic, trying to find the dreaded thing. She couldn't feel it stuck to her bottom or coming out her throat, but surely it was still there. She hadn't been able to rid herself of it before. It had to-

"Jordan! Darling, it's OK! You're safe!" Kerry said from beneath her, cradling her head in their lap in an attempt to calm her down.

This roused Jordan and reminded her what exactly had happened. She slowly turned her head to see the destroyed hose laying feet away near the similarly dismantled pump. She couldn't help but shiver at the sight. As the origin of her troubles with the hose flooded back into her mind, she asked quietly, "Where's Flora?"

"She's inside. Her supervisor was really mad she had to get off an important call, so she said she needed to do damage control or she might be fired. But she wanted to be out here with you."

Jordan snorted. "Well, maybe I don't want her to be out here."

"Why?"

Jordan gestured her weak arms to her floppy belly. 

"Flora didn't do that."

Jordan turned to look up at them. "You're saying this is my fault?!"

"No, no, no! She didn't know the hose would do... that. I don't think anyone could know that would happen."

She tried to sit up against Kerry's chest, but she was too weak to do so. He helped pull her up onto his chest to lay her head on his shoulder. "But she should've been out here! In case... in case something like this happened. She told me to just turn the pump off when I was empty, but-but I couldn't... I couldn't walk to the pump. I was so heavy. I-"

Kerry ran their fingers through her hair as she cried into their shoulder and recounted the past 2 hours' events to him. After her belly had allowed itself to be crammed up the hose and through the pump, she'd laid there for nearly 2 hours. With the extraordinary amount of pain she was in, she couldn't stand up. Even if she could, she couldn't walk much past her own belly as it weighed several hundred pounds. She couldn't cry for help through the hose jammed full of herself stuck in her throat. She was blessed Kerry had come home earlier than he'd intended with info on her new abode.

They wanted to tell Jordan Flora was just as broken up over this as she was. That she blamed herself for this predicament and had said as much when she was trying to comfort Jordan as Kerry had cut through the hose. But he knew he needed to support Jordan now, not argue with her. 

"It's all OK now."

"'OK?!' Look at me!" Jordan motioned to her huge mounds of stomach.

"Did you try to imagine yourself small?"

"Yes! Of course! I thought of everything! Anything to do with shrinking. But it just never happened! I'm never gonna... I'm not gonna make it out of this fucking yard! Even if I fill back up, once it gets cold, I'll just have to drain out again, hopefully without nearly killing myself! And then you'll have to find some way to carry a few hundred pounds of me inside to be fucking miserable for several months!"

Kerry rubbed her shoulders. "Maybe you should try to shrink now."

"You think I don't want to shrink?"

"Not at all! I'm just thinking out loud, but maybe you need to make your body realize you need to shrink. Like when you first filled up, your body knew it needed to grow to hold the water you swallowed. And when you were draining out and the hose stuck onto you, it knew to go up the hose to stop it from tearing you apart. Maybe if you try to think about what you need to do-to get in a car or look at a storage unit or go inside your house-your belly will shrink down."

Jordan sat up, looked down to her massive belly, and closed her eyes. She pictured herself walking into her house, pouring herself a glass of milk. She imagined getting up into Kerry's truck and driving down Main Street to the only set of storage units she knew of. She envisioned herself inside Kerry's house, laying against their chest on their couch. As these simple, wonderful moments flashed before her, she felt and even heard her belly skin moving. Much like the horrifying appendage she'd grown a few hours ago, her skin started pulling back into her main body through the connector. It was slow going considering its sheer surface area, but it gradually made its way back into her. The sound of skin rubbing past skin as it migrated back to her was somehow comforting. Kerry stared wide-eyed at Jordan's belly, realizing he would never fail to be astounded by her body.

After a few minutes, the last of her belly skin situated itself back into its original place. Her stomach was no smaller or bigger than it had been a few days ago. Jordan opened her eyes and sighed in content, then looked down to her belly. "Well, it's entirely too small for my liking, but for now, it'll do." She looked up to Kerry, who was grinning ear-to-ear. "What?" she asked.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing, I just... it's strange seeing you like this again."

"Like what?"

"Like... you know! Human-sized!" Kerry gestured up and down her body. "I'd gotten used to you being a huge belly with a person on top."

"I mean, same."

Kerry caressed her cheek with their hand. "Well, if you're happy, I'm happy."

Jordan frowned and looked down at herself once again. "I mean... I wouldn't say happy exactly. I don't want to be this size. I want to be huge and full of water. But if I need to do this to be myself when it's cold out, I can manage. Plus, it's better than... how I was right before this."

Kerry held Jordan out by the shoulders and smiled at her. "Jordan, I'm proud of you for getting through this. For working hard at being how you want to be. I know it's tough, but you're strong."

Jordan started to tear up again. "No! Thank YOU! You-you saved me! Again! I was... I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't got here! I'd have been sitting there for so much longer."

They hugged once again, gripping each other so tight they were practically one.

"Now, are you feeling hungry at all since you have, you know, a normal human stomach?"

Jordan stared at herself once again and poked her belly. "Well, I'm not sure I do. Cuz for one thing, not hungry. And for another thing-"

At this, Jordan poked more forcefully into her stomach. Her finger pushed her belly skin further and further toward her back, forming a divot around it that grew in width as she pushed. By the time she reached her spine, the divot covered nearly her entire stomach. Kerry's jaw was on the ground. "Shit! That doesn't hurt?!"

Jordan looked up, still holding her finger against her spine, and grinned. "Nope! I guess my body figured I don't need a regular stomach to be able to walk around, so it just left it empty. Though...."

Jordan eyed the remaining intact hose lying between the pump and the spigot. Kerry followed her eyes. "Jordan, you just finished shrinking down. At least let me bring you to a few of the storage units while you're still able to fit in the car."

"Yes, absolutely! But remember, this puppy's empty!" she said, patting her hollow stomach. It made a light thumping noise that echoed out of her open mouth. "I can fit at least a gallon in here to keep me cool while we peek around. You know, maybe I could even sneak in a couple. We could pretend to be a pregnant couple!"

Kerry put his hands on his face. "Most fetuses don't make sloshing noises."

Jordan screwed the hose to the spigot, then put her hand on the faucet. "Meh. No one'll notice. I mean, who would suspect I was just a human water-cooler instead of a pregnant woman?"

Turning on the hose, Jordan placed it in her mouth. She chose to simply swallow the water instead of opening her throat. After the events of a few hours ago, the idea of her throat sitting fully open was disconcerting. Kerry watched in fascination as her belly slowly grew. Jordan was in heaven. She'd assumed it'd feel the same as when she first sat down and slowly drank from a hose connected to her pool: just like a normal drink with maybe a slight stretching feeling if she paid attention. This time, she distinctly felt the cold water splash onto the bottom of her hollow stomach and form a water line that slowly rose up. Only once her existing belly was full did the stretching commence and, from there, it felt more or less the same. A couple minutes in, Jordan used her other hand to gesture Kerry to take a poke. They did so cautiously yet curiously. He was surprised at how bizarrely cold it was. If he had chugged a few bottles of ice cold water, his belly would be the same temperature as always. They figured the area being hollow meant the only thing between the water and his hand was her skin, which gave off little heat by itself. And, naturally, her belly had much more give to it. It felt more or less the same as it had when it was hundreds of times larger. Another minute or two and Jordan was looking positively pregnant. Well, not precisely, seeing as the weight of the orb didn't sit at the same oblong angle as a pregnant belly. This had the rounded appearance of a beer belly, though anyone who dared poke it would realize it was much sloshier than any normal stomach.

Jordan could've imbibed all day, but Kerry finally grabbed her hose-holding hand once she looked ready to pop. She pulled the hose from her mouth with a pop, set it on the ground, and leaned over to turn off the flow. The downward motion caused her belly to jiggle. Its contents made a muted sloshing noise. Jordan opened her mouth a couple times as the sloshing echoed through her to hear it increase in volume when unimpeded by her closed mouth. When she pulled up and turned to Kerry to speak, she burped deep and long. A blush drew across her cheeks as she patted her watery belly, a tiny ripple moving across its surface. "Pardon me!"

Kerry rolled their eyes and grabbed her hand. "Come on. I'll take you by the warehouses and storage units I saw." He laid his hand against her cool belly. "We'll find a home for you yet!"

Jordan giggled, then frowned. "Wait, I probably need some other clothes. A bikini isn't the ideal outfit for looking at storage units."

"Fine," said Kerry, opening the driver's side door. "I'll start the truck and you get dressed."

"Could-Could you just grab me some clothes from my room?"

Kerry frowned slightly. "Why?"

She sighed and looked toward the house. "I don't want to see Flora. She'll want to talk to me if she sees me and I don't... I'm not ready for that yet."

"Sure, Le Ventre."

When Kerry entered the house, he heard Flora through her office door faintly. She was clearly on the phone with someone and didn't seem to hear anyone come in. They quickly found a t-shirt and shorts and was about to leave, then realized most people tend to wear underwear beneath their clothes. It took some rummaging through drawers, but they managed to find a bra and panties. It reminded him of when he'd tried on his mom's bra in high school and stuffed it with socks, looking at himself in the mirror. They had been seeing if they could manage to be a woman for Jordan; if they could just say they were a trans woman or maybe even convince themselves into being one to make her more comfortable dating them. It hadn't taken long to realize this was impossible. He wasn't a trans woman. He was agender, and Jordan would have to accept him that way. As they exited the house with her clothes in hand, they grinned at the fact that she had.


	19. Dinner and a Show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kerry and Jordan check out a potential home for her belly and enjoy a scenic retreat.

When Kerry returned to his truck to hand Jordan her clothes, they found her sitting in the passenger's seat, cradling her belly. It was substantially less water-logged than had become the norm, but much more than nearly anyone would consider normal. She held it like it really did contain life within it, as most people would assume. Unshed tears threatened to pour from her eyes. Kerry opened the door and put his hand on her shoulder. "Jordan, are you OK?"

Jordan looked up suddenly as if she'd been in her own little world. "Yeah. No, it's fine. I'm just... I'm trying to tell myself this'll be back to its rightful size soon."

"Are you gonna be OK going to town? We can look some other day."

"No. No, I need to do this." Jordan sighed. "I wish it had been a little easier to get this way again, but... that's not either of our faults. Let's get going."

Kerry grinned slightly, happy Jordan seemed well enough to go, but still concerned how the various misfortunes she'd gone through to get big, then shrink down were affecting her. They knew such a literally huge change to her life couldn't be a simple process, but it seemed like she attracted a certain level of bad luck on top of that. Kerry sat down in the driver's seat and handed Jordan her clothes. "You can, um, I think there should be enough room to change in here. I'll just... I can look away if-"

"Kerry, you used a vibrator on me last night to stunning results. I'm fine with you seeing me naked."

Kerry nervously chuckled. "It's not that. I mean, I just... I don't want you to think-"

It was Jordan's turn to lay her hand on their shoulder. "If this is an asexual thing, please know that I'm 100% fine with it. I just want to know."

Placing his elbow on the steering wheel and his hand on his forehead, Kerry replied, "I guess it is? I don't know. It's a me thing at the very least. I just... it's not that I h-hate seeing you naked or anything. Like last night, helping you with that: no problem. I don't get my rocks off to it because I don't get my rocks off to anything, but I enjoy making you feel good. But when it's not a time like that, when it's just you changing clothes or-or any other time you'd happen to be naked... I don't really know why, but it makes me... uncomfortable. And not 'you' in particular. I mean seeing anyone naked."

Jordan rubbed Kerry's shoulder and laid her head against it. "Kerry, I understand. Well, I don't feel that way about nudity myself, but I'm fine with you feeling that way. Everyone has their own things that make them tick and not tick and that's just one of yours. I like having a massive belly. You don't like seeing people nude except when jilling or jacking them off. Tomato, tomahto."

Kerry giggled. "We're quite the pair, huh?"

Jordan sat up and started removing her bikini top. Kerry turned to the left to look toward the back yard. Jordan replied, "I don't want you to think that any of your idiosyncrasies or wants or needs are any worse than mine. When you got here yesterday, I was worried you'd freak out or see me as some weirdo and never want to talk to me again. I mean, we hadn't talked in a bit, but I thought you might just help, then run the fuck away. But you didn't. You know that... all of this is something I really care about. That it's about how I see myself. Like you said before, we're similar in that we don't want to be how most other people want us to be. And we're similar in that we've both decided to say 'fuck them.'"

Kerry began to laugh a great, big, belly laugh. It was caused in equal parts by Jordan's wonderful use of profanity, their complete agreement with her sentiment to "them," and the comfort of finally having a partner who seemed to understand them. Jordan let his laugh peter out, a few tears running down his face, before tapping him on the shoulder to indicate she was done changing. "Let's get going so I can get back to normal."

"One sec," said Kerry, pulling out their phone. He pulled up Flora's contact from when she'd called him yesterday and shot her a quick text: "Jordan's smaller. We're going to town. Back in a few hours." They briefly considered telling Jordan who they were texting, but decided against it. Seeing as Jordan still seemed to blame Flora for the traumatic hose incident, they figured that wasn't info Jordan needed right now.

With that, they drove off into town.

\------------------------

"So whaddya think?"

"It's plenty big. I mean, the sheet said it's 30 feet by 50 feet. I can fill that up nicely-with my various clothing materials!"

Kerry quirked an eyebrow at Jordan over this last remark. She shrugged where she stood behind the seller. John was looking to sell an abandoned store that had once been a butcher shop. It seemed the ideal spot for parking Jordan's giant frame. As she said, the building had lots of floor space with relatively few walls that would need to be knocked down. The back section had a few spigots with drains in the floor; ideal for handling Jordan's contents if she needed to shrink down to visit Flora or go elsewhere. The storefront had a large window intended to welcome customers into their friendly, local butcher, but a few curtains would easily hide a 12 foot high wall of flesh. Jordan chuckled at the thought that her belly flesh was actually less disgusting than whatever cuts of meat had once hung from the storefront.

John frowned for a second, then shook his head. "Sure. Yeah, you could make this into pretty much any kind of store."

"You said the town doesn't have zoning, right? So if we wanted to live in the store, that'd be fine?"

"Yeah, we aren't gonna pay the government to tell us where we can and can't build things! You can make a store a house and a house a store. Just like God intended!" 

Jordan tried as hard as she could not to giggle. "Would you mind giving us a moment to see what we want to do?"

John waved his hand and walked toward the back door. "Sure! You and your husband take your time! I'll be out here when you need me."

From her position behind Kerry and John, Jordan saw Kerry flinch. As soon as the door shut, she walked up to them, but Kerry spoke first anyway. "So do you think it looks good?"

Jordan put her arm around Kerry's arm and back. "Kerry, I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"For... for what John said."

Kerry looked at the ground as if something amazing was hidden within the pattern of the linoleum. "It's fine if he thinks we're married. I mean, he thinks you're pregnant, so he's just assu-"

"You know what I mean."

"No, I-oh.... Oh, you picked up on that?" Kerry's face lit up, then looked toward the back door.

"Of course! I saw you... react to him saying that. I know-well, I'm sure it's tough."

Kerry looked up and sighed. "I swear I wasn't trying to be obtuse before. I've never had anyone notice when people calling me... husband or anything like that made me feel bad. I guess I'm just used to it being this thing only I notice and everyone else just... goes along with."

"I'm sorry about that and about what he said."

Kerry shook his head and walked toward the storefront. "It's not like I blame him per se. Or anyone who does shit like that. I mean, I use he/him around people I don't know unless they're in some LGBT-related group. And I don't tell most people I see that I'm agender because... it's not really necessary info most of the time. It just... it still feels wrong when people call me a masculine word.... But back to business: do you like this place?"

Jordan gave the building a 108th once over. "Well, it is huge for my purposes. I mean, 30 by 50?! I could just... I could be so big, Kerry!"

Kerry grinned. "Maybe not quite that big. Remember, we need to be able to get in through at least one of the doors and it'd be nice to have access to the water and drains in the back, so you can't go clogging those up with your bulk."

Jordan tapped her chin. "True."

"And the ceilings are only 10 feet high, so you'd have to sacrifice a little height. Though wouldn't that mean you'd be smaller than you were before since you seem to end up pretty round? Wouldn't your proportions stay the same?"

Jordan started drumming her fingers on her distended belly, happy she was free to do so away from John's gaze. She was afraid the ripples it sent around her stomach would arouse suspicion. "I think what we learned today is my body is pretty adaptable. I mean, I could try to tell it I want to get longer and wider instead of taller and see if it softens where it needs to to accomplish that. And if it doesn't cooperate, I figure once I hit the ceiling, my belly will take the path of least resistance. It's easier to grow in length and width than to crash through the ceiling."

"We would have to get rid of the old counter and seating and things. And like John said, the electrical and plumbing probably need to be repaired. Do you think the price is OK?"

"It's a steal, really. I know this place has been closed since I moved here when I was 10, so I'd bet no one's willing to buy it."

Kerry faintly heard voices coming from the store beside the butcher. "Will having neighbors be a problem?"

Jordan tilted her head. "Well, it is a tax office, so they probably don't get too rowdy in there. Plus, they'll be closed a bit of the year. But... do YOU like it here?"

Kerry turned from the spec sheet they were looking at to her. "What?"

"Do you want to stay here with me?"

"I... Jordan, I'd love to, but I just want to be sure. We've been dating-" Kerry looked at his phone, "-almost one day. Are you sure we're ready for this kind of commitment?"

Jordan grabbed Kerry's hand. "We were already friends for years. And after everything you've done for me in the past almost day, all I know is I love you and you love me. That's all I need to know to ask you to live with me."

Kerry teared up and kissed Jordan's hand that held his. "I'd be happy to live here with you, Le Ventre!"

Jordan jumped up and down, her distended belly swinging up and down at each leap and sloshing within its container. 

"Sounds great!" said John, who was in the process of opening the rusted back door. To narrowly avoid disaster, Kerry pressed their hands around Jordan's still jiggling belly, stilling it. "Yeah, you can start your family here!"

Jordan and Kerry laughed for an entirely different reason than John imagined.

\---------------------

After contacting their bank, applying for a mortgage, and starting the process of buying the old butcher shop, Kerry and Jordan sat in the truck, speeding down the road. "This is amazing! I feel like we should celebrate somehow!"

Jordan grinned from ear to ear, leaning back in her seat and clasping her still-cool belly. "We should. But... I don't know if my idea of celebration is the same as yours."

"Well, what's your idea of a celebration?"

Jordan sighed. "I just mean most people celebrate things like this with a big, fancy dinner, but this baby-" Jordan patted her stomach- "means that ain't happening."

Kerry wanted to give Jordan a side-eye, but since they were watching the road, they issued said side-eye to the pavement instead. "Even if you're not hungry, would you still enjoy eating? Like just for the taste?"

"I don't think I would. I definitely wouldn't want to swallow anything."

"Why not? I mean, you threw up before, so you could get rid of the food since you aren't going to digest it."

"I guess, but I'm sure that still wouldn't be clean. There'd be residue. Ugh!" she shivered, setting her belly to slosh left and right on her tilted body.

Kerry hummed in thought. "I think I have an idea for how we can both celebrate together in our own way."

\----------------

"You're sure no one will come out here?"

"Totally sure. My dad's friend owns this lake and it's a vacation spot. He's only here a month or so at the beginning of summer."

"I thought you didn't talk to your dad."

"I don't, but what his friend doesn't know won't hurt him."

Jordan finished putting her bikini back on as Kerry gathered nearby branches to start a fire. They were together on the grassy, slightly wooded shore of a decent-sized lake, about 1,000 feet across at its widest section and shaped like a J. The dirt road ended at the inner curve of the J, allowing them a nearly panoramic view of the lake. On the opposite side of the shore sat a small cabin, blessedly unoccupied. Jordan grabbed a branch from the ground and brought it over to Kerry to add to his collection. They looked up in surprise and smiled. "Oh, thanks, Jordan! But you can go ahead and enjoy yourself. I can do my work here. Just yell out once you start growing so I can make sure to watch you."

She kissed him on the cheek and giggled. "Oh, I'm sure you'll see me growing without having to look up."

Kerry looked up from their work and their face grew somewhat serious. "I meant more to make sure you're safe. If anything... if you start having any kind of problem, just let me know."

Jordan rubbed his hair as he bent over the gathered wood, then ran over to the shore. As she waded into the cool lake water, she tried to imagine how different this would be from a simple hose. Of course, normally, she wouldn't consider for a moment drinking lake water. The dirt, fish, and fish poop was enough to make her gag, but knowing she didn't seem to digest anything anymore made the concept much more palatable; she would easily just expel the water when needed. When she began swimming through the water to the middle of the lake's width, she closed her eyes and imagined she was swimming within her own humongous belly; that if she kept going for miles more, she may eventually collide into a planet-sized wall of belly skin. Finally, after reaching the center of the lake, she floated and shouted out to Kerry, "I'M READY!"

"GO AHEAD, LE VENTRE!"

With that, Jordan leaned her head down into the lake and opened her throat. Using the same technique she used to spew forth water out of her belly to get rid of the bugs, she created suction with her throat and belly muscles to suck water into her belly. She quickly found this didn't get much more than a mouthful of water into her. She paused to consider why her trick didn't work this time, then it hit her: her belly as it sat right now was already full. To create suction to pull the water into her, she needed to create a vacuum within herself. The only way to do that was to grow her belly. Still holding her head underwater, she willed her stomach to grow, for the skin comprising it to expand and stretch. Knowing she needed a goal in mind for her body to do what she wanted, Jordan thought about how she needed to be huge again. She needed to grow into herself within this refreshing, blue lake; to watch the trees on the distant shore quickly be dwarfed by the size of her bulk. Then, her body decided this was an acceptable goal and made it work.

Jordan felt her belly skin billow out from her main body, hanging somewhat loosely in the water only a few feet away from her. Once again, she opened her throat and worked her muscles, pulling the lake water into her now somewhat empty belly as it continued to stretch out further and further. It didn't feel quite the same as her previous fill-ups. For one thing, she was choosing to make her skin grow instead of having thousands of gallons of water make that decision for her. It resulted in much less pressure within her, which felt more leisurely, yet still delightful. This let her feel the water pour into her to take the place of the vacuum her new skin recreated in its wake. As time passed, she faintly realized she had grown to roughly the same size as she was originally, her belly floating beneath her main body, which floated on the top of the water. It didn't even register to her that she hadn't breathed for the past several minutes, since her lungs didn't burn or take in water as they should have long ago. 

Eventually, she felt the bottom of her mass touch the silty bottom of the lake. It was even cooler than the water and felt nice and squishy. Jordan considered this could be a better location than the grass in her yard, which, while not too shabby, was nowhere near as delicate on her recently expanded skin. It occurred to her that this was taking a little too long for her liking. She hadn't been able to check her phone since she was currently smack in the middle of a lake, but she knew it had been at least 15 minutes. She didn't want Kerry to starve. She held her mouth open even wider than it had been and wished she could grow faster. Then, her body once again chose to work with her; her mouth and throat widened to practically 1 foot wide. Initially, Jordan was shocked and wondered if this would be permanent, but she soon reasoned nothing about her body seemed to be permanent anymore. To compensate for the larger aperture for water to rush through, her belly skin grew out of her even more quickly. Jordan's belly was soon touching nearly all of the lake bottom from shore to shore. When she felt the summer breeze blow against the wet skin of her back flank, she knew she had better stop. She didn't want to go too far and mow over Kerry.

Jordan closed her cartoonish mouth and told her body to shrink it and her throat back to normal, which it did, issuing a small cracking sound from her jaw as it became re-hinged. She slowly looked up from the water and gasped. 

Her main body sat on a small plateau about 10 feet wide at its widest point. Jordan tried to take in the bizarre concept that this section of her that was about the same size as she was originally was now considered small. She felt the plateau dip down into the water on each side of its oval shape, which only rose about 6 inches out the water. Below lake, her belly laid against the lake bottom and trailed up either side of the shore. While she couldn't turn around far enough to see where her back section rose out of the water, she could feel that it was up on some coarse sand and pebbles with a tiny bit of grass touching her very edges like a tiny feather duster. Her sides didn't grow as quickly as her front and back, making her the shape of a banana split sundae. Jordan saw her front covered by a few inches of water about 10 feet away from Kerry. He had just been starting the fire with his lighter as she finished filling up. 

Jordan placed her fingers to her mouth and blew a quick whistle to Kerry. They looked up, saw Jordan on her fleshy perch in the distance, and waved. Then, he looked toward the shore and jumped up, gasping. Forgetting he'd ever wanted to build a fire, Kerry rushed to the shore, bent down, and poked the humongous belly. It shook against their inquisitive finger. His mouth still agape, he yelled to her, "YOU FELT THAT?!"

"YEP! HEY, YOU READY TO START COOKING?"

Kerry tilted their head, though Jordan couldn't tell from how far off she was. Didn't she say she was on an all-liquid diet? "YEAH...."

"STAND TO THE SIDE!"

Still entirely confused, Kerry nonetheless acquiesced and stepped a few paces to the right. Then, he saw the 80th bizarre thing he'd seen in the past 2 days.

For Jordan had determined not long after she finished growing that her bulk was not just full of lake water. It had been to start, but once her body had decided to get things cracking, her mouth was large enough for some of the lake's denizens to get caught up in the kerfuffle. She hadn't noticed during the process on account of the myriad sensations resulting from taking in a lake, but 30 fish had either swum in to investigate the disturbance and ended up in the dark or had simply got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were no worse off than they were before, still swimming contentedly within their new, skin-covered enclosure. Jordan was alerted to them when she felt a few bump against her skin. This naturally resulted in that section of her quivering, she only made more of the fish bop her insides in confusion. 

Now that she knew what she was packing, Jordan decided to give back to Kerry. She rose up slightly on top of her bulk, pressing her hands against her belly like she was practicing yoga. Opening her mouth to its previously huge proportions and adjusting her throat, she waited until she felt a fish venture right within her connector. As quickly as she could, she called upon her body to do what it did to rid her of the bugs in one quick, powerful burst. The fish and about 3 gallons of water shot out of her gaping maw in an arc over the pristine lake, sailing far higher than any fish had a right to. After flapping through the sky, the arc descended just as quickly to the shore, 4 feet to Kerry's left. Luckily for it, the impact killed it while managing to leave the meat intact. Kerry stared at the fish with equal parts pride and confusion. They picked up the fish and slowly turned back to Jordan, who had just finished returning her mouth to normal once again. "YOU HAVE FISH IN YOU?"

"ALL I HEARD WAS THE WORD FISH, BUT I'M SURE THE ANSWER'S YES."

Kerry realized the distance was going to make this afternoon less romantic and more grating, so he figured out a plan. "I'M GONNA COOK, THEN I'LL SWIM OUT TO YOU."

"SOUNDS GOOD!"

Jordan closed her eyes as Kerry lit the fire and started preparing the fish. She found being the world's largest organic fish tank much more relaxing than anyone could imagine. Just as she had felt watering the earth with her contents, Jordan felt in tune with nature as she was for all intents and purposes one-fifth of the lake. Her plateau of skin was effectively a shore, the lake's small waves lapping against it like a gentle massage. This may not be an everyday sort of thing for Jordan-being full of water and fish-but it had its perks. After 15 minutes, Jordan felt bare feet step onto her plateau. She opened her eyes to a shirtless Kerry walking over her belly to her main body, holding a plastic bag full of cooked fish. They were still bug-eyed at Jordan's enormity. "The... the whole time I swam out here, you were just... you were right below the water! You must be-" Kerry looked from the shore he'd left to the opposite side- "1000 feet long! Are you that wide, too?"

"Nah. I seemed to be a little less proportionate based on how I filled up. I guess when you have to grow your belly out, it doesn't automatically do it as uniformly as when there's equal pressure doing it."

"I guess... regardless, you're... you're-"

"If you think I'm disgusting, you can just say so." Jordan looked down to the water beaded up on her top.

"No! Of course not!" said Kerry, rubbing her back as he opened the bag. "I was gonna say you're beautiful! And smart! I mean, I could tell it took a second for you to figure out how to get started, but you did it! And now you're just... huge! Which must be nice if you liked how big you were before."

Jordan looked up and grinned from ear-to-ear. "Yes. Yes, it is nice! I'm just a little blip on this bad boy. I'm basically the lake at this point. I... I hope you were OK with the-the fish... thing I did."

"Are you kidding? That was so fucking cool! That was the epitome of fly fishing!"

Jordan stare at Kerry. "Kerry...."

"Pardon me. I'm off my pun game on account of starvation. Let's see what mama bird coughed up for me."

It was Jordan's turn for her eyes to bug out. "And I was worried I would gross YOU out! I'd rather not think of what I did as... that."

"I mean... it technically was," said Kerry, taking a bite of the fish. "Mmm! We need to keep you stocked."

Jordan rubbed her chin mischievously. "That gives me an idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it considered body horror if the person being subjected to said body horror is having fun with it? As subjective as it is, I'm gonna say no.


	20. Making and Filling Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan confronts Flora and dinner is served

At 4:30 pm, Flora left her office, exhausted from various meetings and coding. She'd been relieved to see Kerry's text that Jordan was shrunken down and seemingly well enough to go to town, but she was still anxious about the entire ordeal she'd gone through. If she hadn't had to do all this damn work to pay to keep a roof over their, or rather, her head, she would've had time to sit outside and watch Jordan while she was being drained and turn off the pump when she was dry. Jordan wouldn't have endured such pain and fear if it weren't for her work ethic. Seeing as no one was around and she felt as drained as Jordan, Flora got into her pajamas and put some mindless sitcom on the TV in the living room, trying to ignore her guilt. As bone tired as she was, she fell asleep on the couch soon after.

Flora awoke to the sound of Kerry's truck doors opening and closing. In her half-awake state, she only expected to see Kerry, seeing as Jordan had been huge and immobile for the past 3 days. So imagine her surprise when the front door opened suddenly to Jordan, glaring at her. The next few seconds went by in a blur. Jordan opened her mouth just wide enough to look suspiciously unnatural, her throat also widening to match. Her belly, large enough to hold octuplets, pushed in on itself in a rush, sending its contents out her throat and onto Flora's reclined body. Naturally, it was mostly lake water, now miles from its origin. The rest of the contents, also miles away from home, landed on Flora's lap and wildly flapped about. It took Flora a second to realize exactly what was freaking out on top of her: a trout.

Flora jumped up off the couch and screamed, sending the terrified trout onto the rug. She stood in silence, dripping from the neck down. The preposterous nature of the entire event left her incapable of speech; however, Jordan was ready to talk. After shrinking her mouth and throat back down to a normal size, she berated Flora. "That's what you get for leaving me out there!"

Kerry had come in right behind Jordan and moved to stand in front of her. He didn't want her to do something else she'd regret. "Jordan, I think you need to go outside and fill back up and maybe you can calm-"

"Sure! Just pump yourself full of water again!" Flora yelled, having regained her senses. "Nothing bad ever comes of that!"

"You said you understood me! You said you were gonna help me! But that was clearly bullshit, huh?"

"I don't give a fuck if you wanna get big! Go ahead! Just take responsibility for the results! Don't try to guilt trip me into thinking this is my fault."

Jordan tried to walk around Kerry, but they simply moved to continue to block the two women. "How is it not your fault?! You told me to turn off the pump myself. Clearly that was impossible! I wouldn't have had a fucking... noodle made of my own fucking skin yanked out of me if you had been there!"

Flora started to cry, partly from Jordan's inflexibility and partly from guilt. "You don't think I feel like shit that that happened to you?! You think I wanted to come out there and-and think you were dead? To s-see you in agony? I'm sorry I wasn't out there! I really am. But you didn't ask me to stay with you! You just nodded and went on with it."

"I-I trusted you to know what would happen. I thought it'd all work out fine. You're the smart one! You're the one calculating how much air was in me and testing how much my skin shrinks and all that. I assumed you had it worked out," said Jordan, starting to tear up herself and anxiously pull at her belly skin and thump it back into place.

Flora walked over to Jordan and Kerry let her, trusting they were both in a slightly better, less potentially violent place. She put her hand to Jordan's cheek. "I'm so sorry, Jordan. I thought your belly would just shrink itself fine. It's all my fault." At this, Flora gripped Jordan in a tight embrace, which Jordan returned almost immediately.

Kerry stood by awkwardly while they hugged, feeling like he didn't deserve to butt in on their reunion. "Get in here, you big lug!" Jordan said, beckoning them with her hand. 

He joined in on the side, laying his head on Jordan's shoulder. After a minute or so, they pulled apart. Kerry looked down at the rug. "So, Flora, you like trout?"

\------------------------

"I really am sorry about the fish!"

"Like I said before, it's fine. You were just upset about... everything, which I don't blame you for. And, hey, plus, free dinner!" Flora called down from the roof. 

Kerry and Flora were on top of Jordan and Flora's roof, installing the lightning rod that had arrived during the lakeside excursion. Meanwhile, Jordan was finishing up grilling her catch of the day on the porch. She preferred being a living fish tank to actually consuming fish, but she wanted to prepare Flora dinner to make up for the incident. She already used every towel in the house to dry up her previous expulsion from the rug and couch. "You two almost done?"

Flora tightened a nut and wiped the sweat from her brow. "Why? You expecting a storm?"

Jordan looked up to her roommate, not quite sure she was prepared to hear the word storm again. "No... just the fish is almost done."

"Go ahead," said Kerry, adjusting the pole to face straight up. "I'm just about done anyway."

"Did she pack another fish in there for ya?"

Kerry giggled. "No, I already had dinner and a show from my special gal."

"A show, huh? Do I wanna know?"

Kerry was about to make some cheeky remark about how that wasn't her business, before Jordan piped in. "Swallowed nearly a whole lake, shot 1 of many fish out of my mouth, Kerry ate like a... monarch?"

"A monarch?" asked Kerry, looking to Flora as if she could help him interpret this bizarre word choice.

"Were you saying it like 'eat like a king,' but gender neutral?"

Jordan grabbed the fish from the grill with the tongs and placed it on a plate. "Y-Yeah."

Flora descended the ladder from the roof to the ground as Kerry chuckled and stood up. "I get it! Thanks for thinking of that. But yeah, a lot of phrases just end up sounding weird if you try to make them gender neutral."

"Well, I'm sorry I missed all that! You may need to bring me next time to see how huge you can get." Flora said, walking up to pat Jordan's bizarrely normal-sized belly. Immediately, she felt its emptiness.

"Fuck! Are you... empty?"

"Yeah. It sucks, doesn't it? All flat and... blah," Jordan sulked.

"No, I meant more like it's literally empty," said Flora, poking it and quickly discovering her finger would keep going if she let it. 

"It's been like that since I shrank back down. I guess my body decided all those pesky intestines and stomach weren't really necessary anymore."

Flora grabbed her plate and frowned. "Um, Jordan, you have a stomach. It's been sprawled across our backyard the past few days."

"Ugh, no, I still have a belly, but I don't have a regular human stomach. I think it's just... space in there. Like my throat just opens up to a big ol' cavern in there and I fill it to my heart's content."

Flora shook her head, amazed her friend wasn't at all concerned about the state of her body, but content that she was happy with it. "Well, if you wanna get to growin' again, the hose is right where you left it. Of course, we don't have the pump this time."

Jordan flinched at hearing the word "pump." She remembered back to earlier that day when part of her had unceremoniously lodged itself in there, burning and squeezing her until it finally broke. "Y-Yeah, I'm perfectly happy not using... that ever again."

"I don't blame you, but it will take a bit longer to get you back to size then."

"What do you mean?"

Flora sat down on the lawn chair to eat her fish. "I mean the pump is what got you pumped up so quickly the other times. Before I got here when you first drank from the pool, how long did it take you to get to the size you were at? Your 2 foot belly?"

"Um... probably 10 minutes."

"Right. I did some calculations based on your dimensions and the rate of the hose and it should take about 15 hours for you to go from zero to full using just the hose."

"15 hours?!" Jordan slumped and walked over to the spigot. "That's forever! I guess I'd better get started."

"Oh, and maybe consider if you wanna be in the same spot as last time. A bit of you was sitting on the pool before, so maybe scooch a little further away from the pool so you're totally flat on the ground when you're full."

"Good thinking!" Jordan stepped back a few paces from where she remembered starting her adventure a few days ago, then plopped the hose in her mouth and turned the spigot on full blast. Of course, it was still agonizingly slow for Jordan's purposes, but it'd have to do. Within almost no time, the sound of water pouring into her empty belly stopped as her skin started to stretch out. Kerry finished tightening the last screws on the lightning rod and descended the ladder just as Jordan's stomach had reached nearly 2 feet round. 

They walked over to Jordan and placed their hand against her stomach, feeling the slowly-growing mass steadily push back. Jordan grinned around the hose and put her head on his shoulder. "Aren't you gonna lay down on old Bessie here?"

Jordan shook her head and gestured around her belly, then moved her legs slightly apart. "What?"

Jordan sighed, then her eyes perked up as she grabbed her phone from her pocket. Opening the Notes app, she typed out "Gonna see how long I can stand up like this."

"It's leg day, is it?"

She went to slap her knee, then quickly realized this was now a difficult task, so she slapped her belly instead, sending ripples across it. Flora stood up with her now-empty plate. "My compliments to the chef!"

Jordan attempted to bow, but almost fell forward from her stomach tipping so far forward. Kerry grabbed her belly and pushed her back onto her feet, jostling her stomach to the point that its sides spread out like humongous love handles before the wave moved forward once again, reverberating for several seconds more. "I think that means 'you're welcome'!" Jordan nodded.

Flora grabbed the various used frying tools from the grill and went to the front door. "Well, with that, I'm off to finish a little more work and go to bed. After... everything today, I'm beat. And Jordan-"

Jordan looked up from gazing at her belly in wonderment.

"I-I just wanna say again that I'm sorry about... what happened today. You don't how glad I am you're safe.... 'Night."

Flora opened the door and was about to walk in before she heard a slight pop, a burp, and "I love you, Flora.... Goodnight."

When she turned around, Jordan had the hose back in her mouth, her belly hanging low on her frame as Kerry rubbed her shoulders. Flora smirked and headed inside. Kerry stood in front of Jordan and asked, "So I know it's gonna be at least a few hours til I can get on you."

Jordan typed on the app "Phrasing?"

Kerry blushed and lightly punched her shoulder, then frowned. "I have to work tonight. I'm normally a night owl cuz of my hours, so I need to sleep at least a few hours before I go to work at 9. Do you want me to go home and sleep or do you want me out here with you?"

For a second, Jordan was about to use her phone to tell them to get some quality rest on their own bed, but then she considered the alternative. Last night, Kerry had been there to protect her, as well as provide other services. The night before, she'd been traumatized by hundreds of disgusting bugs crawling all over her beautiful belly. And of course, her draining fiasco had nearly cost her her life and caused tremendous pain. Jordan feared being alone with her massive stomach as that hadn't gone in her favor up til now. She typed "Could you please sleep here with me? I'll be quiet."

Kerry brushed his hand across her cheek. "Of course, I can, Le Ventre. Do you mind if I grab a pillow from your room?"

Jordan nodded. They patted her belly and took off to get the pillow. When Kerry returned a minute later, Jordan was laying down on her belly. While her feet were still touching the ground, her thighs weren't. She was currently checking social media on her phone, her elbows set on the grass. "I thought you were going to see how long you could stand up?" asked Kerry as he approached her side.

Her finger beckoned them to lay down beside her, which they did on their back. Meanwhile, Jordan typed up a response: "I can do that anytime. Don't want you sleeping while I'm standing next to you. Then my belly would wake you up when my legs give out."

"True," Kerry replied, placing the pillow down and laying his head against it. "We'll have to pencil that in sometime. You've already tested your limits today, so I'm curious to see that particular limit."

Jordan smiled around the house, then looked down at the ground, suddenly looking forlorn. She wrote on her phone "Can you keep your phone with you at work in case something happens?"

Kerry held her hand and rubbed the back of it with their other hand. "Absolutely.... Nothing's gonna happen out here, darling. You put on bug spray before you came outside."

"It's not just that," Jordan typed. "Whenever I'm alone out here, shit happens."

"Well, there's no new developments tonight. No bugs, just you and a hose. But if you do need help, you really should call or text Flora first. She's right here. I mean, yes, please tell me, too, but I'll be 15 minutes away."

"Not right now you're not," she responded. Jordan's left flank, now approaching 3 feet wide, twitched. "Mine scraching tha?"

Kerry frowned and lifted his head, then noticed the shivering and knew what she meant. Her expanding skin tended to itch something crazy as it grew and it made typing coherent sentences tough. "What else are partners for?" they said, scratching her side with their fingernails. Jordan rocked back and forth in delight on her gradually growing mass. 

Once the twitching ceased, Kerry stopped their ministrations and placed their hands across their own belly. Jordan frowned, then noticed how dead to the world he looked. She needed to let him rest. She was about to get some shut-eye as well until it occurred to her she was still wearing her t-shirt. Luckily, her stomach had quickly outgrown the shirt, so by the time she had plopped onto her front, the shirt was already bunched up beneath her boobs and not wedged beneath her. Jordan pulled it the rest of the way off her body and tossed it to the side. At her current size, her belly was only level to her chin; not quite enough to lay her head against for a nap. Jordan tossed her phone a few feet away and rested her head against her hand and her elbow on the grass once more, settling into a light sleep that only got deeper as the crickets began to chirp.

\----------------------------

"FLORA! HELP!"

For the second time in 3 days, Flora awoke to the sound of Jordan screaming from the yard, though this time, the last bits of the sun were peaking behind the horizon. A tiny part of her brain considered she was getting tired of the bullshit Jordan's goals put her through, but a much larger part scolded her for having such a thought. Flora raced through the house, turned on the porch light, and zipped out the back door.

At first, Flora wasn't sure what the problem was: Jordan was 7 feet wide and 4 feet high, the hose was out of her mouth, there wasn't a bug to be found. 

Then she saw Kerry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just when you thought the cliffhangers were over, I pull them right back out! Also, welcome to the fic in which I do math to solve for Jordan's volume and how long it'd take to accomplish it, but not enough math to know how big she should be at the end of this chapter because that would just be silly.
> 
> Also, these may start coming out more like every other day just cuz the creative juices aren't flowing quite as well and I have (some semblance of) a life.


	21. Leg Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kerry endures the brunt of Jordan's belly while Jordan discovers a new method of transportation

"What did you do?!" Flora yelled, standing in front of Jordan's smaller-than-normal but still sizeable bulk. Underneath her front, left quadrant was Kerry or, rather the left side of his body and a small portion of his right. Considering Jordan's belly was only 4 feet high, their position below her caused a sizable bump on her top left, causing her left arm to be smushed against it. Kerry looked up to Flora as much as possible; most of his neck was free, but he was still severely limited in movement.

Jordan was hysterical. "I don't know! We fell asleep and I woke up and he's-he's down there! I'm so sorry, baby!"

"'S fine," Kerry said hoarsely. They could still talk, but they had difficulty breathing underneath pounds of water and skin. He wanted to stroke her belly and tell her it wasn't her fault, but moving at all was a painful and challenging process.

Flora knelt beside Kerry and grabbed his right arm. "I'm gonna try to pull you, OK?"

Again, Kerry wished he could tell her it was no use, that there was roughly a couple hundred pounds sprawled on top of him, so he wasn't gonna budge, but he simply didn't have the air to say it. Sure enough, Flora yanked and yanked, gently as she could as this was a person, not a pool chair, but Kerry didn't move an inch. Jordan sobbed into her belly. "What're we gonna do?!"

"Could you shift your body like you did when we got you out of the pool?"

Jordan vigorously shook her head. "Even if I get all the way off them, they can't move too fast right now. And then my belly will rush back even further and-and UGH!"

"Its OK, Jordan. We'll figure something out."

Kerry didn't want to worry them, but he was beginning to feel lightheaded and was starting to worry he'd lose all feeling in his left half. "Hurry," he huffed out.

Then, Flora realized what they needed. To beat the belly, they must work with it. "Jordan, what if you try to make your body do what you want it to?"

"What do you mean?"

"Earlier, you told your body you needed to go to town, so you shrank. You told it to swallow a lake, so you grew your mouth and belly. Just tell your body you need to get off Kerry."

Jordan sniffled and looked down to her lover beneath her. "I'll try..."

She closed her eyes and rested her arms against her front as if laying down the law with her mass. She envisioned what she needed: Kerry to move away from her belly. In her mind's eye, she pictured her belly somehow lifting off the ground and away from her partner. Then, her body followed suit.

From the left and right sides of her bulk, except for the front quarter on top of Kerry, nubs of skin began to form, raising her belly up. As a few seconds passed and the bits grew higher, they were revealed to be feet, 12 on her right side and 8 on the left, slowly pushing their way out of Jordan's form and lifting her above the earth. Each foot faced away from Jordan. The middle of her belly stayed anchored to the ground, holding the water running out of her sides as they rose. As legs began to emerge from these same spots, Jordan looked down to her sides, feeling her new appendages shift against her belly as she created 20 new knees. Finally, as Jordan's new thighs were birthed from her side, seated at what had originally been her bottom side but was now the middle due to the rest of her bottom dragging along the ground, the bottom of her mass lifted off the grass, hanging to the height of her multiple knees. Looking down at Flora, who was caught staring at the unique creature before her, Jordan lumbered her watery stomach to her right, alternating which legs she stepped off with to be able to hold her immense weight as she moved. The ground shook at her every step til she was 5 feet away from her previous spot.

Meanwhile, Kerry was free from the weight of Jordan's belly, but their entire left side ached and had a sharp, pins-and-needles feeling to it. He dared to breathe slightly more deeply than he had in the past several minutes, but this, too, caused a good deal of pain. Flora managed to pry her eyes away from Jordan's standing mass to look down to Kerry. She'd assumed he would get up and run as soon as possible, but once she knew this was impossible, she helped him sit up. "Are you OK?"

"I-" Kerry began, but coughed immediately after, their left lung straining after having been held down for so long. He opted to speak in clipped sentences to make it easier, his voice still hoarse. "Fine. Go to Jordan."

Flora looked back over to her friend, who was still standing on her brand new feet, the bottom of her belly swaying slightly, smacking the insides of her various thighs. Jordan was broken from the reverie caused by her body's ingenuity by the sound of their voices. "Kerry! Darling! Are you hurt?"

Kerry couldn't help but wince as they tried to prepare to stand up. Their left side couldn't do much of anything without feeling like it had been run over by a car; considering Jordan's size, it more or less had been. He wanted to stand up and pat her belly and tell her he was fine, but he couldn't stand, her belly was much higher up, and he was not at all fine. He opted to reply, "No biggie. Flora, help me in. Please."

Flora put her arm around Kerry's left side and slowly lifted them. They fought back the urge to cry out at the protests their leg and side made at this, wanting to protect Jordan from his pain. After all she'd been through, she didn't need to think she'd hurt her lover. Jordan stared helplessly on as Flora carefully opened the door while holding onto Kerry, then brought him in to the couch. She had initially thought of bringing him to Jordan's bed, but as useless as his left side was, Flora didn't think she could get him all the way there. As soon as she returned to shut the door, Kerry said, "Aspirin. Please."

"We should get you to a hospital."

Kerry shook his head and closed his eyes against the pain. "No. Just bruised."

"Are you sure about that?"

Kerry's right arm clutched the back of the couch as if they were about to tear it asunder. "Yes! Aspirin."

Flora sighed and grabbed the aspirin from the medicine cabinet and a glass of water from the tap. When she returned, Kerry was visibly crying. As she handed them the pill and glass, she asked, "It's OK. You'll feel better soon. I'll get you ic-"

Kerry had already wolfed the pill down. "Don't tell Jordan-I'm hurt. Don't say aspirin."

"Why not?"

Kerry opened their teary eyes and looked down to the floor. "She'll blame herself. Think her body's bad. It's not. We were just dumb."

Flora grabbed his hand that hadn't recently been crushed under a belly. "I won't tell her, Kerry. I'm gonna go get the ice."

When she got up to return to the kitchen, Kerry said, "Then go to her."

Flora stopped for a second. "I will."

\----------------------------

When Flora went through the back door 5 minutes later, Jordan was once again laying on her belly roughly where she had started her fill-up. Her eyes were bloodshot and had clearly just finished crying, and she was laying flat on her top. "Oh! You're back to... you, then?"

Jordan looked up and sniffled, raising herself up on her elbows. "How's Kerry?"

Flora knew she couldn't straight up lie and say Kerry was running laps around the house. "They're not too bad. They called in sick to work, but they should be fine."

"Are you kidding?! He couldn't walk without you helping him! I c-crushed him!" Jordan slammed her fist down on her top, the smack of skin on skin somehow highlighting her guilt.

Flora walked up to her and took this opportunity to rub her hand along Jordan's top, seeing as she was short enough to do so. "Kerry's not crushed. They just need a day or two to rest and they'll be back up and laying on you in no time."

"It's all my fault! I asked him to sleep out here with me before work. If he hadn't been there and I hadn't been this gross weirdo and so needy, he'd be fine!"

"Jordan, you're not a gross weirdo. We've both told you so many times you have perfectly valid goals. You guys just didn't think the whole sleeping next to an inflating woman thing through."

"But if I-if I didn't want all this shit in the first place, none of this would've happened!" Jordan began to hiccup in her tears, sending ripples of flesh around her belly.

Flora paused for a moment and considered her next words carefully. "I heard you two saying before that you understand each other for having goals or wants most people don't have. That people say they aren't practical or reasonable. Right?"

"Uh huh."

"Well, say if someone told Kerry they shouldn't be agender. That that's just silly and no one could really want that. That he should just be content as a man and ignore his feelings and thoughts about how he is."

Jordan frowned. "I'd tell them to go fuck themselves. Kerry is who he is. They want what they want and it's none of their fucking business."

"What if they said all the prejudice and legal issues and dirty looks mean he shouldn't be agender? That it isn't worth it because of all that?"

"It's his mind and his decision! If he thinks it's worth it to tell people he's agender or wear certain things even if he gets shit for it, so what? It's his life!"

Flora rubbed Jordan's head. "Then that's what I'm telling you. Kerry knows after the past couple days that weird shit can and will happen around your huge belly. They know what they're getting into. You want what you want and feel what you feel and he's happy with it. Just because he made a bad choice of sleeping arrangement doesn't mean your goals are wrong. This is all trial and error."

"But what if you hadn't heard me? What if I'd kill-"

"But that didn't happen, Jordan. And now you'll both be way more careful."

Jordan sighed. "Why do you always have to be right?"

Flora smirked. "Now see, that's MY goal. To always be right. And, honey, I've met my goal."

"Sure, sure...."

Flora patted her roommate's top, sending some supportive waves through her, then turned toward the door.

"Um, Flora?"

She turned around. "Yes, my liege?"

"Could you possibly grab the hose for me?"

Flora looked down to the hose a few feet in front of Jordan where she'd tossed it earlier. It was still spewing out water. "Damn it! Has that been going the whole time?"

"What's another 15 minutes when it'll take 15 hours to fill me up?" Jordan retorted with some of her old spunk, running her finger down as much of her side as she could reach like she was marking off each foot.

Rolling her eyes, Flora grabbed the hose and handed it to Jordan, who immediately popped it back into her mouth. "Fine, but tomorrow morning, you're telling me all about how you became a centipede."

Jordan blushed across her entire mass, though luckily the light pouring in from inside didn't reveal this to Flora. Laying back down on her gigantic yet still somehow tiny belly, Jordan tried to sleep as she prayed Kerry would be feeling up to recuperating atop her tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is getting out of hand on account of sprouting multiple legs and weird pressurized flesh tubes, but damn it if I'm not having fun.


	22. New Heights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan explores shapes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure if anyone actually enjoys this weird shit, but I've long since decided this is just for me. Please enjoy the madness if you'd like.

Kerry blinked at the sunlight streaming into the living room. For a moment, they wondered why they were on Jordan and Flora's couch instead of nestled atop his lover's humongous, soft belly. Then, as he made to sit up, a twinge in his side reminded him of the events of last night; namely, nearly being crushed by the very belly he expected to wake up on. Looking down at his left arm and leg, he noticed a few bruises where hundreds of pounds of water and flesh had sat in just the right way to hurt him. It certainly wasn't the broken bones they'd expected, but the spots still ached. Kerry heard a cabinet door close in the kitchen as Flora prepared breakfast. He yelled over to her, "Morning."

Well, he tried, but it came out more like they had the worst case of bronchitis in recorded history. Flora put down the plate she'd been holding and came over to his side. "Feeling any better?"

"I'm breathing a bit better. I can actually talk in full sentences. Can you help me sit up please?"

Flora nodded and did just that, slowly positioning them from reclined to seated on the couch where she joined him. "Still don't think you need to see a doctor?"

"No, I'll be OK. I heal quickly. Also, sorry, but I think your frozen peas are pretty much shot after hours out."

She looked down to the lukewarm bag on the rug and shrugged. "If it's any consolation, I think they were expired."

Kerry chuckled as much as they could with their scratchy voice, then cleared their throat. "Is Jordan OK?"

"Haven't checked on her this morning, but she was all right last night."

"Does she blame herself for what happened to me?"

Flora paused. "She did, but I think I got her to see reason."

"What'd you say?"

Flora paused again, longer this time as she tried to be delicate. "I talked to her sort of like you talked to me the other day. That you're both similar in having... goals or ways of seeing yourselves that aren't the norm. And just cuz the way she wants to be causes some problems, it doesn't mean she shouldn't be that way."

Kerry tried hard not to tear up as they figured snot wouldn't be the best thing for their lungs. "Thank you, Flora. For that and helping me out before."

She wanted to hug him, but figured his injuries made that form of affection impractical. She opted to pat and rub Kerry's good shoulder, then get up. "I'm gonna see how our favorite behemoth is, then I'll rustle up some grub."

Flora opened the back door, expecting to find Jordan at her full, original size of 15 feet around and 9 feet high. Instead, she found her friend in quite the odd position. For starters, her belly was a cylinder, only 5 feet wide from her base to her top, but towering roughly 25 feet in the air. Jordan's main body was only just visible atop the column of her belly, her legs and arms hanging off her sides, both trying desperately to scratch at her form. The uppermost section of her now vertical belly swayed slightly, though not nearly as much as Flora assumed it would. 

Shaking her head at her roommate's latest bizarre body choices, she walked beneath the shadow of Jordan's looming stomach and over to the spigot, turning off the hose that was still spewing water far enough to flow against the bottom of Jordan's belly. While she was entirely too preoccupied with itching her mass to see Flora walk below her to the spigot, she felt the water flow against her skin stop. Pausing her scratching, she looked down to Flora. It was a tad difficult, considering her top was still jiggling back and forth a bit from her previous efforts. "Morning, Flora!"

Flora held her hands to her mouth to let her voice carry up to her friend. "Care to explain whatever the hell this is?"

Jordan looked down the sheer vertical drop of her skin and frowned. "Isn't it obvious?"

"You wanted a bird's eye view of the yard?"

"What? No! I mean, that's a bonus, but that's not why I did this. I'm sunbathing!"

Flora walked around Jordan's cylindrical belly, running her finger along it in a circle, sending shivers all around the bottom. "Were you not doing that before?"

Jordan resumed her scratching, attempting to move her legs and hands to the midpoint between them with mild success. "Sure, but it was very inefficient. I mean, the bottom of my belly was giant and just sitting on the ground! I was getting a nice even tan on the rest of my stomach, but the bottom was so pale. See?"

Flora looked at the skin pole in front of her and poked it. "Oh, I see you alright."

"Ugh. No! I mean, look up. If I'm not mistaken, it's 12 feet up my column."

Flora did just that and saw what she meant. A clear tan line ran around Jordan's pole-like form. The skin below it was pale, with the tan spreading up to her main body. Flora moved to stand directly below Jordan's face and rubbed her bottom, which rumbled against her hand in joy. "So this down here was the bottom of your belly?"

"Yep. I think my belly button's right smack in the middle down there."

Flora looked up and down Jordan's column. "I don't see it."

"Man, you're slow to wake up today, huh? I meant down-there!" At the word "there," Jordan's main body jiggled, her arms and legs moving up for a second.

Flora quirked her eyebrow. "OK, well, I got what you mean about your belly button, but what was that?"

It was hard to tell from so far up, but Flora could tell Jordan was frowning. "I was trying to hop. Figured I'd give you a peak at my belly button."

"You were trying to hop... on your belly?"

"What? Is that so ridiculous?"

"Yes. Yes, it is."

Jordan gasped. "Look, to get like this in the first place, I had to gradually tell my body to toughen up bits of my skin from the bottom up til I got to this height. I looked a bit like a lollipop for a few minutes there with the pole part below and normal, squishy me as a big ball. But my skin is still pretty tough compared to normal. I figured I could just-lift up!" Again, Jordan tried to move her main body up in a rush, but all that did was make her top ripple a bit. "And I'd be a giant, human pogo stick!"

"You realize there's no muscle in your... pole. Plus, you're not a spring."

"Well, at least now I know I can move around if I need to."

Flora pulled out the pool chair and plopped down where she figured Jordan could best see her from her height. "Yeah, how did you do that?"

"I mean, same as anything else lately: just told my body to get me up and... and off Kerry. Then, I just felt those legs grow out of me and I stood up! It felt weird as hell and it wasn't easy. I might look pretty slender like this, but I've gained a bit of weight since I first filled up."

"You don't say?"

"I know! But as many legs as I had, it was doable, just tough. I guess it helped that my center of gravity was... well, my center. Not too hard to figure out how to carry myself."

"And how did you get rid of them?"

Jordan shrugged. "Eh. I just knew I didn't need to be standing up anymore, so I walked back to where I was and lowered myself down. And my body seemed to know the legs weren't necessary anymore, so they just kinda slipped back in."

"'Slipped back in'? Like... do you still have them somewhere?" asked Flora, peeking around the skin pole.

"No! I mean, they just disappeared into me."

"Well, hopefully you can yank them back out if need be. Though I think your sunbathing plans as a giant pole aren't that practical."

"What do you mean? I'm a genius up here!" said Jordan, rocking the top of her watery pole back and forth a few feet by swaying her main body side to side, issuing a sloshing noise heard even at ground level.

"I mean, there's this," Flora poked a particular patch of Jordan's skin.

Jordan pulled against her side with her hands and lifted her legs up in the air, bending the very top of her stalk-like belly down slightly as if it were starting to form a question mark. "What? You have to be much more specific, Flora! I can't exactly see too much of me up here."

Flora picked the piece of grass off Jordan's skin, leaving behind a faint mark where it had pressed into her. Surprisingly, the tiny area twitched at the feeling. "OOH! What are you picking off of me?"

"Grass."

"Grass?! How'd that-oh, yeah, I guess that was previously the bottom of my belly, so it was plopped on the grass for a while. If you'd be a dear and rinse me off to about halfway up, I'd appreciate it."

"Aren't you ready to go back to your round, belly-like self?"

"When you put it that way, yeah," Jordan sighed, unclasping her hands from the front of her and swaying back slightly as her form jiggled. "I mean, this was fun and I might have to workshop lollipop me sometime, but round is what I'm here for. Um... you might wanna back up."

Flora ran back to the spigot, figuring Jordan's form couldn't possibly reach that far with whatever she was about to do. "I'm set over here!" she yelled.

"Look out below!" Jordan yelled.

In a moment, Jordan told her body she didn't need to be a 25 foot high cylinder anymore. That a big round belly was what she needed. She had assumed her body would gradually soften top to bottom, making her the intriguing lollipop shape for a bit before gradually setting her belly on the ground til the remaining cylinder around her belly button softened as well. Instead, her body opted to soften all at once, seeing no harm in it. After all, suddenly stiffening before wouldn't have caused her to form into a pole, but becoming a bulbous belly full of water required no such precision. As the water from her top rushed down to her bottom, it forced the skin along her bottom to suddenly stretch more forcefully than ever before, rapidly expanding to its previous 15 foot circumference. The skin at Jordan's top managed to shrink as her main body fell down, but not quite as quickly as the water was falling, leaving a short ridge of skin to block her sight as she descended. She relished the feeling of the grass swiftly brushing the bottom of her belly as it grew along the yard.

Within her, the various bubbles and air pockets that had collected along the very top of her pole-like mass were incorporated into the water rushing toward the ground, zipping down and along her sides and shooting out toward the skin closer to the ground. Once Jordan's main body reached the jiggling, turbulent mass of the rest of her belly, the force of gravity sent her about 3 feet down into her own mass, walls of skin brushing along her arms and legs. Then, she bounced back up, riding the wave of flesh caused by her return to earth and still a foot or so above her normal perch upon her belly. Finally, she was relatively stable atop her bulk, though ripples of skin carrying by still moving water echoed for minutes to come. What's more, she could actually feel a fairly small air pocket form from several bubbles coalescing behind her and still more bubbles steadily forming against her sides as minuscule bits of air connected along the inside of her skin.

Flora rushed over as soon as the shockwaves had mostly subsided. "Shit! Jordan, are you OK?"

Jordan looked up from where she lay dazed on her belly, then down to her roommate. "That was... WOO!" her massively belly shivered in excitement more than ever before. "Gonna have to do that again sometime!"

Flora's jaw was still on the ground, but she managed to make her way to the back door. "Well, as long as you're having fun.... Anyway, I'm gonna make Kerry and I some breakfast, then come out to get you sunscreened and sprayed. Don't go forming any new wacky shapes while I'm not out here to supervise, OK?"

Jordan placed her elbow against her front and rested her head on her hand. "I'll try not to."


	23. Flipped Turned Upside Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan enjoys several new positions

When Kerry emerged from the back door, they found Jordan lazily bopping her feet up and down alternately on her top, each tap issuing fairly small waves of skin to peter out as they reached her front. She looked up at his appearance and grew a smile big enough to match her mass. "Kerry, I'm so happy to see you!"

Kerry grinned, thankful to see Jordan from a much better angle than they had last night. "Bonjour, Le Ventre! I'm glad you're OK!"

"You're glad I'M OK? I almost... I hurt-"

Kerry approached her front and hugged it with all his might, which wasn't quite as much as usual. "Jordan, I'm fine. I was the moron who slept right next to you while you were filling up. It's not your fault at all."

"But I should've thought of that, too! And it's my belly and-"

"Please, please don't blame yourself, OK? Either blame me or physics or no one at all, but not yourself. We'll think ahead next time, all right?"

Jordan sighed and laid her chest flat against her front, dangling her arms. "All right."

"So do you have any big plans today?"

Jordan giggled. "All of my plans are big lately. I mean, hello?" She gestured in a circle at her giant mass.

"But yes, I do need to work on my tan. The bottom of my belly's all pale compared to the rest of me and that just won't do. I need to be uniform."

Keith furrowed his brows. "Are you gonna drain out and fill up sitting down?"

"Drain out? Oh goodness, no! I'd like to stay nice and full as long as humanly possible," replied Jordan, patting her front to allow a few errant bubbles to glide along her insides.

"I guess you could make those legs again, then sort of fall over on your side, then repeat it til your belly was upside down."

Jordan tapped her chin, then shook her head. "No, see I'd be on top of my belly at first, so if I just flipped upside down, I'd squash myself."

"You're righ-"

"Wait!" exclaimed Jordan, "Stand right below my main body. I'm gonna try something out."

Keith cautiously stood as close to Jordan's front as they dared, curious what new shenanigans their partner could possibly invent. Then, they saw yet another preposterous feat of their partner's human, or inhuman, body. Jordan's arms gripped onto her front further down than Keith had ever seen them. His eyes bulged out as he saw Jordan's face, then chest emerge from over her top, her hands grabbing fistfuls of her own skin to pull her main body down her front. Gradually, they spied the strange connection between Jordan's belly and herself making its way down the wall of skin, sliding smoothly down it. Finally, her legs and feet followed the rest of her up. 

Jordan rested her legs back against her bulk as they stuck up in the air and held tightly onto her skin 2 feet above the ground. She attempted to look up at Kerry, though she could only really see his legs. "Phew! I'm getting an arm workout today!"

"Wait, shouldn't water be pouring out your mouth right now?"

"Nah. See, after I finished filling up for a little last night, I realized there was still some air in me. Not as much as with the pump, but enough that I could feel it. But when I stood up and sat back down, all that movement broke apart the air pocket into bubbles, so I didn't have a whole lot to burp out. When I was shaping up into a pole earlier, some of the bubbles started shooting up to my top and making me a burp a tiny bit each time. But I figured any change in pressure in me might make me topple over or not form just right, so I formed a little bit of skin right where my connector is so it's closed off to my belly."

"Smart thinking! That would've come in handy when the tree fell."

"True, but I'm getting better at figuring out how my body works. Hence this-" Jordan gestured with her feet by tracing them along her belly in an arc. "Now, time for phase 2."

Once again, multiple feet and legs slowly emerged from Jordan's skin, though this time they were directly under her at the very edges. As she was much wider and subsequently heavier than she had been last night, she grew 40 legs around her perimeter to compensate. Kerry bent down as much as their aching body allowed to watch Jordan's pendulous belly swing and jiggle between her numerous legs. It was no less awe-inspiring than last night. "Anything to my left, Kerry?"

Kerry was broken out of his reverie by Jordan whose head had now risen to chest height. They turned their eyes to her left and saw nothing but the trampled grass she'd previously occupied. "Nope, you're all clear."

"Good. Here goes nothing."

Suddenly, Jordan's right legs kicked off from the ground in unison, sending her right side spinning over toward her left. Meanwhile, her left legs were swept off their many feet. For a split second, the massive stomach was airborne before landing on what had been its left side with a deafening slosh. Her skin undulated, sending her main body and face jiggling into and smacking her own skin with several slaps. As her mass churned and her skin rippled, her new legs sunk back into her belly. Kerry placed his hand on Jordan's side, which was now horizontal. "Are you OK? Did that hurt?"

"I'm fine! It didn't hurt. It was more like getting smacked on the face."

"Well, I bet that got rid of all your bubbles."

Jordan squinted as she tried to sense the inner workings of her belly. "No... no, there's still a bunch on there. See, I feel them forming right now. All the motion gets rid of them, but since the water's sloshing around and just moving the air elsewhere, the bubbles just form again. No complaints here!" she replied, patting her side. Based on her new orientation, the shivers of pleasure trailed up on her new top, felt but not seen.

"Now, more where that came from and we're set."

Once again, Jordan formed just as many legs and toppled onto her side. This time, however, her main body was left right side up on her side. She let go of the skin from her fists, sending yet another ripple through her flesh, and dropped the short distance to the ground. Then, she knelt down with her thighs as parted as possible to fit against the curve of her belly. "Hmm... I didn't think this through. I figured I could just lay down like this, but this dang connector's in the way."

Kerry knelt beside her. "Well, you said the connector's closed off from your belly anyway. Maybe you can just tell your body you wanna lay down and it'll stretch out."

Jordan grinned from ear to ear. "Come down here so I can kiss you!"

They did so immediately and for a full minute before Jordan tapped them on the shoulder. "Yes, darling?"

"I'm ready to lay down."

"Oh, sorry!" Kerry blushed and leaned back. "Proceed!"

Jordan steadily leaned her main body back against the ground, her connector stretching like a piece of taffy as she did. It was taut compared to the rest of her and, of course, dry. Kerry poked it to find it had very little give. Jordan looked up at this. "Shit! I'm sorry! Should I not have done that?"

"No. Even a day ago I'd have been embarrassed by it, but... knowing you accept me as I am makes it seem perfectly normal. It's just part of me, so what's to freak out about?"

Kerry grinned and leaned over to kiss a line from her giant belly down her connector to her ribs. To their side, the massive bulk rippled in happiness. "So how is it on ground level?"

"Comfy," Jordan sighed, scooching forward to set her butt against the side of her mass. "Plus, it lets me scratch this area much more easily than before." At this, she dragged her feet and legs against her sides to address the latest itches her growth and movement had caused. 

"Now, I suppose I should get to spraying this puppy down, huh?" said Kerry as he got up.

Jordan reached her arms up to him like a baby and whined, "Can't you lay with me a little longer?"

"Would if I could, but as pale as you say the bott-well, I guess now the top of your belly is, we really need to get sunscreen on it. And you're only gonna itch more if we add bugs to the mix."

The mass shivered in fear at the mention of bugs. "Say no more. I await my treatments," she said, clapping her hands like an impatient noble.

Fully reclining against the grass and settling herself in, Jordan lazily scratched at her side with her big toe and awaited her lover's return. As much as she loved the feeling of the cool water still rolling around inside her in a gyrating current, the warmth of the sun touching what had been the bottom of her belly was a relief. While most of it had managed to peak above the ground when she made herself into a pole of skin and water, her poor belly button had remained pressed to the earth for hours. Jordan basked in the sun and even dozed off for a few minutes.

Then, she felt cold metal pushed against her side, causing her to gasp and shiver, shifting the metal to make a rattling sound. Jordan opened her eyes to find Kerry with one hand behind his head and the other holding a can of sunscreen. "Sorry. Didn't realize you were asleep."

"It's fine," Jordan replied, adjusting a leg to scratch the stretched underside of her connector. "Are you sure you're OK to go up the ladder? You looked pretty sore earlier."

Kerry began to climb up her side. "I'm not hurting much at all, darling. Nothing a little time with my baby won't fix." They leaned over to plant a kiss halfway up her belly, making it shake at the delicate touch.

"You weren't lying when you said you were pa-WHOA!"

Jordan sat up, pushing her hands against the ground as if she could possibly see her new top. "What?! What's wrong?"

"Um-nothing's 'wrong,' just... did you decide to grow any other appendages without mentioning them?"

Now Jordan was supremely confused. "Nooo... what do you mean?"

She felt Kerry cross to about halfway down her top, then face away from her main body. "Do you feel anything... odd around here?"

Jordan chuckled, then laid back down with her hands behind her head, realizing all was well. "Oh! Now I know what you're seeing. Yeah, that's my belly button."

Kerry couldn't help but stare at the nub and was glad Jordan couldn't see them. "You're, um... you're sure that's what that is?"

"Of course, Kerry! Everytime I fill up, I start with my normal innie, then at a certain point, the pressure gets too much and POP, out it goes."

"I mean... yeah, it's an outie, but... it's a little more outie than I could possibly imagine."

"Well, I'm also a tad larger than most people get, so it stands to reason my belly button would grow to accommodate that."

Kerry knelt down in front of the tube of flesh and turned toward where he knew Jordan's main body was below him. "Jordan, do you know how big this is?"

"Not exactly. I mean, it can't be more than, what, an inch?"

Part of Kerry wanted to just tell Jordan the size and shape of her belly button, but they knew by now Jordan much preferred show to tell. Besides, they had to think there was no way this could feel bad. Wrapping his hand around the base of the inverted belly button, he was just able to press his fingertips together. Kerry quickly pumped his hand up the outie to its slightly rounded tip, deciding once was enough, for now at least. They hadn't made a similar motion since their last cis boyfriend, but they knew the amount of time it took them to go from base to tip was roughly the same, proving exactly how much Jordan had grown. While it wasn't a replica of the real thing, you couldn't blame him for initially thinking Jordan was packing heat.

For her part, Jordan was panting with her back firmly pressed against the grass, her hands gripping fistfuls of it and her eyes wide as saucers. "Is that what it feels like for you?!" she said in a high, quiet voice.

"What?"

"Nothing! Just... look, I know you need to get spraying me down but... would it be weird or wrong if I asked you t-to please do that again?"

Kerry giggled and sat upon her top, sending waves down her sides and the sound of crashing water to echo through the tiny bits of air inside her. "Listen, I'm here to make you feel good, Le Ventre, so if jerking off your belly button is what makes you happy, I'm here to serve."

Jordan groaned and blushed. She was unsure how she could be equally mortified and turned on. "I mean, yes, yes, it fucking does! And if you... if you wanna, you know, join in, feel free!"

"Join in?"

"I don't know if there's a technical term for it cuz, you know, I'm generally not in a position to need to know that, but I think of it as swordfighting."

"Oh! Um, n-no, not really my thing. I'm purely utilitarian with... that. But thanks for the offer."

"Anytime!"

"Now, let's see what we can do...."

\-----------------------

Flora had spent the better part of the morning cleaning the house: sweeping, mopping, every other boring chore imaginable. She had just moved on to cleaning the windows and sprayed the window in the living room to wipe it down with a paper towel. As she brought the cloth down through the spray, an image came more clearly into focus: namely, Kerry sat astride her roommate's belly making an obscene hand gesture. At first glance, she assumed they were enjoying themselves on top of their girlfriend, but she quickly determined the angle of the dangle didn't support that. From this far away, Flora wasn't entirely sure what she was seeing. The sleek appendage was certainly the girth and length of what she thought it was, but it was the same pale color as her belly. Then again, considering the fact the body part was unnatural no matter what exactly it was, Flora figured it was in fact exactly what she'd first guessed. 

With a few cursory wipes at the window without even looking to see if all the dirt was removed, Flora quickly continued to the next room of the house. She decided her next major purchase would be black-out curtains.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flora's motto at this point is "I'm gettin' too old for this shit." Also, if that isn't really called swordfighting, it should be.
> 
> Edited because I realized later she wouldn't just grow more legs where Kerry had been under her before, but also to account for how much bigger she is.


	24. Parts of a Whole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan asks Kerry a deep question and considers a more altruistic use of her body.

Jordan laid on the grass, her butt pressed firmly against the side of her humongous belly, which lay in a mound directly in front of her. The ground beneath her was wet, though only some of that was from the hose that had finished filling her full of water earlier. The rest was the result of Kerry's tender touches to her profoundly outie belly button. He was currently spraying sunscreen and bug spray on the section furthest away from Jordan's main body, alternating each to more efficiently coat his lover. She managed to avoid shaking at the cool treatment until Kerry had stood away from the relevant patch of skin. 

"Thanks again, Kerry. That was... certainly the most interesting orgasm I've ever had!"

Kerry giggled from atop her, looking back to the bizarre appendage. "You're welcome! I have to wonder though, how were you not really uncomfortable before?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I would think if my... well, if the part of me that most closely resembles that were sat on by thousands of pounds of water and skin, that'd be priority one. Didn't that hurt before?"

"Oh, no, that wasn't there the whole time. Sure, I always had a belly button, but it turned into an outie while I was first getting huge and laying down on it. So it pushed out just to the level of my skin, but couldn't go further. When I flipped over that first time earlier, there must've been enough give in my skin there, so I felt it sort of... engorge."

She felt the spray of sunscreen suddenly stop when it clearly wasn't the end of a swipe. "I'm sorry, have I offended your delicate sensibilities?"

Kerry walked over to the edge of Jordan's belly closest to her reclining body. "No, no, I've dated people with... parts that engorge-" they blushed, "-it's just odd hearing it from someone who generally doesn't have that equipment."

Jordan's eyes followed him back and forth as he started spraying her front. She shrugged. "I bet I could probably grow a dick if I wanted. If I can pop out a couple dozen legs, I don't see how hard a dick would be."

Kerry cackled, resting their hands on their knees. Jordan folded her arm over her eyes. "I fell right into that one, didn't I?"

"That you did!" said Kerry, managing to stop laughing and continue spraying. "I know some men who'd be quite happy to be able to grow their own dicks."

At this statement, Jordan uncovered her face and sat up on her hands, frowning slightly. "Kerry, do you-shit, no, I'm sorry, never mind."

Once again, the sunscreen stopped, though this time Kerry knelt down where they'd just been about to spray. "What?"

She was blushing by now, the red creeping up her connector almost to where her partner leaned over. "It's stupid and-and probably WAY too personal of a question."

Kerry's head tilted. "Jordan, we're dating. We're gonna move in together fairly soon. There's no such thing as too personal a question for each other." He placed his hand upon her top supportively. "I want to know all about you and for you to know all about me."

Jordan sighed and tried to look Kerry in the eyes, but quickly stared at the wall of her belly instead. She felt embarrassed and frankly ashamed for what she was about to ask. "You said before that you understood me because... because we both want to look and be different from what the world expects of us. And-And I guess I wasn't sure if... if that means you're dysphoric about your body."

Kerry sighed in relief. Naturally, Jordan took it as a sign they were weary of the question. "See, that's why I didn't want to ask! I'm so sorry! I'm a m-"

"Jordan! No, that's not it. I don't know what I expected your question to be, but that's actually a simple one. No, I'm not dysphoric-well..."

He put his tongue between his teeth, thinking about how to word his next sentence. "I don't really think of it as dysphoria, as in 'I hate this part and want it gone.' I just don't really... I don't have any particular connection to... to my penis."

"Oh."

It was Kerry's turn to blush, looking around all the while as if a gust of wind would somehow blow in and help explain everything. "Like I use it, obviously, to... you know... pee. Oh, shit, this is awkward."

Jordan thought she was going to die. "Hence why I said I shouldn't have asked."

"No, really, I-I should explain, as much as I can anyway. It's just... hoo boy! Basically, I use it for what I have to use it for and that's it. I don't really see it as this important part of who I am. It's just... there. Like, if I had some accident and it wasn't there anymore, as long as I could... do everything of my own accord, I'd be fine. If that makes any kind of sense."

Jordan was mostly back to her original color, but still wasn't able to look Kerry in the eye. "It does. I mean, I don't feel that way about... my vagina and assorted... bits. I like it. I like using it."

"I can tell."

Jordan's blush returned in full force as she covered her face with her hands. "But even though I would very much miss that if I suddenly lost it, I understand the way you feel is... a way to feel."

Kerry grinned. Of the few people they'd confided in about their feelings regarding their genitals, Jordan was the most understanding. They stood up to finish up spraying her top skin. "I have to wonder though, what brought this up?"

"Once again, it's gonna sound reeeeaaally stupid."

"It was a valid question to begin with, so the reason for it can't be that stupid."

"I thought I could maybe grow you a vagina."

Jordan felt and heard the bug spray bottle plop on her frame and roll off her side. "Um."

"See?! I told you it was stupid."

"So... you thought maybe if I was dysphoric, you could... grow an extra vagina like you did your legs and just... pop it off and hand it to me?"

"I mean, when you put it like that, it sounds ridiculous."

Kerry tried very hard not to laugh at the mental image of Jordan handing him a detached pussy like one would a borrowed pencil. "Look, I appreciate the offer! I-I don't know that it's an offer that could even happen, but... you were thinking of me."

"Maybe you should just dig a huge hole and bury me and my dumb belly in it."

Kerry laid down stomach to stomach on the now glistening belly, facing her turgid belly button. "Neither you nor your belly are dumb. Honestly, if you do manage to figure out how to do stuff like that, there are people who'd kill for that. And even if you can't, you were... you thought you might be able to help me out. This kind of shit is why I love you, Le Ventre!"

Reverently, Kerry leaned forward to plant a peck on the nubby end of Jordan's outie belly button. It twitched, once again making them wonder how on Earth it wasn't actually a dick. Jordan winced. "Baby, I loved it before, but it's a little oversensitive now."

"I'm sorry, my darling. Wait, are you gonna flip back over at some point?"

Jordan tapped her chin. "Part of me wants to get a button job every so often, but it is a blemish on my otherwise round belly." 

"True, but I was thinking more in terms of it hurting like hell if you lay down on it. Now that's it out, it probably won't just go back in by itself."

"Yeah, that wouldn't feel fun. And what do I need a belly button for anyway?"

Suddenly, Kerry felt the bit of Jordan's skin his chin was currently sitting on push back toward the rest of his body. Lifting up his head, he watched in fascination as the fleshy nub made of water and skin sank down into the rest of the mass, its skin being assimilated into Jordan's bulk to give the tiniest bit more width to the belly. Finally, the rounded nub at the end pulled flush with the rest of the skin around it, leaving no trace of her belly button. "Wasn't that a little rash?"

"I think rash is more like dumping thousands of gallons of water into myself. Getting rid of my belly button is just Tuesday."

Kerry cautiously stood up on their jiggly lover and approached the ladder. "Well, as long as you're happy."

Jordan grinned as she closed her eyes in content and dragged her toes across her side for a desperately needed scratch. "I am."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jordan holding a detached pussy (in the same inflection as Julien Solomita): "Here you go."
> 
> I didn't tag this as Gender Dysphoria cuz Kerry doesn't have it and it's mentioned in passing as being a thing that exists. If you think it should be tagged that way, let me know and I will, but I didn't want to unnecessarily tag it for such a tiny mention.


	25. Taking Care of Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan lends a hand to Kerry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you weren't already aware this story has gone off the rails, this chapter is the train just plowing into the ocean.

"Today? Really? Sure, of course! Now, do we both have to be there to sign? ...No, that's no problem, but, um, it'll be a while til she'll be done... her stuff.... An hour? I-I guess, I mean, yeah, we can do that. I'll call you when we're headed over. Thank you so much! Bye!"

Kerry hung up and pumped his fist at their good fortune. John, the owner of the butcher shop, had called with his realtor to say they were ready to sign all the paperwork to sell the building to them. It had only been a few short days since they'd first visited the store, but as long as it had been on the market, John was ready to part with it as soon as possible. Of course, since both Kerry and Jordan's names would be on the deed, they both needed to be there to sign everything over. While Kerry had no problem with this, Jordan's new lifestyle made sudden travel much more challenging.

Kerry came out through the back door to his lover and her gigantic belly. The pool chair blocked their view of where Jordan's main body had lain against the ground for the past couple days. When he saw her hand reaching down from over her top, scratching furiously at her side, he assumed she had adjusted her connector and crawled back up her own belly to rest atop its water bed texture. "Good news, Le Ventre!"

"Ooh! What is it?"

As Jordan's exclamation came from much closer to the ground than they anticipated, Kerry jumped. He walked over to where her main body had been and, sure enough, still was, her legs crossed idly over her connector while she checked her phone. "What are you doing down here?"

Jordan looked up and squinted. "What do you mean? I've been here for a while."

"But... then, what's that?" Kerry asked, staring in awe and pointing at the hand still scratching along her top and side. 

"Oh, yeah, forgot that's a new development. I grew a hand."

"You what?"

"Grew a hand. Kerry, I already grew several dozen legs and hundreds of square feet of skin. A hand or two isn't groundbreaking."

Kerry rubbed their chin, still staring at the new appendage like it might jump down and attack them. "I guess. Wait, 'or two'? How many hands do you have?"

Jordan put down her phone, looked up to the sky, and started counting on her hand. "So, if you count the normal ones, plus the top... then the other top, and the back... 6."

"Six?!"

"Look, I get mighty itchy. I'm pretty much constantly low-key itchy. Imagine how many times you scratch yourself for even just a second during the day. Then, consider I have much MUCH more skin than you. I'm just glad I thought of growing some hands and that my body agreed with me."

"Well, don't go taking too many jobs away from me," Kerry replied, lightly scratching the mass behind him. Jordan's legs returned to the earth and lightly shook at the sweet relief. "I have some great news, darling!"

"Oh, yeah! What?"

"John wants us to come over and sign the paperwork for the shop today!"

"Awesome! I'll finally have a home to properly grow my big, beautiful-shit!"

Kerry giggled. "Your big, beautiful shit?"

Jordan gave them a look and continued. "I have to drain out to get there and I'm not gonna be able to get human-sized nearly as quickly as before."

"Why not?"

Jordan clasped her hands together and looked at her feet. "Cuz I broke the p-pump before."

He sighed and tried to soothe her by rubbing her surface. "You didn't break it. It wasn't your fault."

"I did break it. As in part of me w-went in there and... and-"

"Jordan, you definitely didn't try to do that. It was totally out of your control. If you really want, we can buy a new pum-"

"NO! No, I... couldn't. I had to lay there and-and hear that motor and... feel it.... I don't want to use one ever again."

"I don't blame you, darling. You never have to see one again if you don't want."

Jordan sighed. "But I do! Cuz in times like these when I need to get somewhere pretty quickly, just spewing up water will take forever."

Kerry cocked his head. "Would it though? I mean, in the lake, you took in a lot of water really quickly without a pu-device," they said, catching themselves.

"I did, didn't I...? Yeah, I guess I could just do that in reverse."

"By the way... what DID you do then?"

"Opened my mouth and throat extremely wide."

"Yeah, I guess that'd do it."

Jordan smirked, which soon turned into a full-faced grin. "I can't believe we're getting our own place!"

From behind Kerry, Jordan began to form two arms at the perfect angle to hug them around their chest. "I know, right? And you can get nice and big there, but safely! I love you, Jordan!"

"And I love you, Kerry!" she said, grabbing him around his abs and squeezing tight. 

Naturally, Kerry gasped and shook a bit at the sudden, unexpected touch. As they looked down and saw the hands work over their muscles, they were astounded at what all their partner could do. Then, his other natural reaction to Jordan's affections literally reared its head, which both parties noticed immediately. Jordan ceased her petting, but left her new hands where they were on Kerry's pecs, unsure what to do. Kerry noticed she wasn't letting go. "Let go of me!"

She did so immediately and they walked a short distance away, facing away from the house. "I'm sorry," Jordan said softly, the two hands dangling from her side wringing each other.

"Why didn't you let go when you saw?" Kerry asked, clearly trying to keep his calm amid the competing emotions this caused him. 

"I-I'm sorry. I'm not used to... THAT being something to not address. I'm used to seeing that and... stuff happening. I didn't think about it."

"Well, now I HAVE to address it," Kerry said tersely to the sky. "We'll be late."

"When did you tell them we'd be there?"

"An hour."

Jordan tilted her head in confusion. "It's a 10 minute drive and I'll probably take 20 minutes to empty. That should be plent-"

"It won't," said Kerry, crossing their arms. "Whether I do nothing about it or... try to do something about it, it won't be enough time."

"Half an hour isn't enough time to... address it?"

Kerry blushed and frowned. "I said it wouldn't be enough time! I can't-I hate doing that and it's impossible to get in a headspace where I feel OK enough about it to... finish quickly."

Jordan sat up and hugged her legs around her connector, staring at the ground near Kerry. "I didn't mean to disbelieve you."

"No, I'm sorry. This whole... thing is tough for me and I took it out on you."

There was a tense beat, followed by Kerry starting toward the back door and saying, "I'll be out when I'm d-"

"Wait."

Kerry stopped, but didn't turn to face Jordan on his left. They hadn't expected her to suggest what they knew she was about to suggest. He didn't want her to see the weariness in his eyes.

Jordan continued gently, "I know you're ace and-and you can't be with someone after you... have sex with them, but what if you closed your eyes?"

Kerry sighed and rubbed their hands against their eyes, trying to ignore their now raging erection. "You sound like my last ex."

"Kerry, I'm really sorry. I am. I'm not suggesting this for me or because I think you should want it. You said it'd probably take you a long time to... handle it. Maybe I could help you handle it sooner."

He managed to look at Jordan and tried not to cry over what would be a preposterous situation to most other people. But neither of them were most other people. "Could you... if I get on top of you, could you u-use your extra hands to...."

Jordan nodded quickly, not from eagerness to do this, but to assure them it was all OK. "But only if you want to, OK? I'm not pushing you to do this, I was just suggesting in case I could he-"

"Jordan," said Kerry quietly, walking to the ladder propped against her side and still avoiding her gaze. "I want to in the sense that... that I need to. I know you're not making me do this and vice versa. But this isn't... something I love doing. If we didn't have somewhere to be, I wouldn't be."

"I understand. I'm sorry I made you-"

"It's not your fault. It isn't. I-I know this sounds... terrible, but could you please-when I get up there... don't talk."

For her part, Jordan was also trying to hold back her tears now. "OK."

"I just-I can't... If I hear you or see you when... it's too much. I'll feel disgusting and horrible. And I-I love you and I want to stay with you, but I can't if I connect you with... what I'm going to do."

"It's OK, Kerry. It really is. I'll be quiet."

Kerry gave the barest hint of a smile and climbed the ladder onto their lover. Even though she said she'd be quiet, they chose to remove their pants and boxers and lay down on the end furthest from her main body. He didn't want any chance of hearing her to avoid tainting his memory of her. They stared at the sky and tried to disassociate from the situation at hand, to divorce the sensation of three hands caressing their chest, thighs, and groin from the notion that they were someone else's hands. It helped that he was laying on a patch of skin entirely too soft and wide to be a person. 

Meanwhile, Jordan felt her lover's pants pile onto part of her top, then felt their bare ass and legs lay flat against her skin. She certainly hadn't expected she would ever feel this, but she couldn't even enjoy the feeling on account of how little Kerry wanted to do this. Once she felt they were settled, she told her body she needed to pleasure her partner. From the skin on the top of her belly, three arms rippled out: one near Kerry's chest and one on either side of his legs. After tracing her fingers down the line between his defined abs, she used her second (technically eighth) hand to stroke the inside of his thighs, enjoying the shiver this caused. 

It was harder than she'd imagined to not moan Kerry's name or sigh at the feeling of their body against hers. As utilitarian as this all was for Kerry, Jordan was hardwired to connect sex with romance and emotion. Kerry enjoyed pleasuring her like one enjoys giving a loved one a birthday gift; Jordan enjoyed pleasuring Kerry because it also gave her pleasure. She knew she couldn't let him hear her; that doing so could utterly ruin their relationship. It would connect this clinical, unwelcome event to her, making him unable to see her in any other light. They would look at her and see the person they were with when they were touched; even if she didn't share that feeling with them, she knew it was all too real. 

And so, when Jordan used her last newly-fashioned arm to stroke Kerry's shaft, she did the only thing she knew was guaranteed to prevent her from crying out. She told her body she couldn't let Kerry see or hear her. She had to be just a belly and arms to them for now. Her body concurred. Her connector suddenly felt much tighter than before, yanking her main body flush against her side. As the connector touched her main body, it was absorbed into her belly skin. It then began assimilating the rest of her by somehow widening from her torso to connect all of her to her belly, from her head to her toes, slurping her into her own bulk as she poured through her own clothes. She looked like someone had stamped the back half of a person onto a piece of skin. Naturally, this connection meant she no longer had any of the several important bits along her front. In about 5 seconds, Jordan's back half was sucked the rest of the way into her skin, simply increasing her surface area with more skin.

All the while, Jordan managed to pleasure Kerry, knowing these changes were meant to satisfy him as quickly as possible. Even though she was now all belly with no ears or eyes to speak of, she could tell they were getting close from how they shook against her top and gripped at her skin. Finally, the shaking suddenly stopped and the grip tightened, then released. She was initially surprised to find no other tactile evidence of the encounter, but considering Kerry's position on his back, she assumed she got off lucky that he didn't get off on her. The reduction in her available senses made it easier for her to come up with another stroke of genius. Realizing Kerry would associate her out-of-place arms with everything that had just happened, Jordan told her body she didn't need arms right now. Accordingly, the appendages slipped back into her mass silently at their various points on her belly. She was now well and truly all belly: a round, watery orb, glistening from a fresh coat of sunscreen.

Kerry sat up and grimaced at the sight on his shirt. They would have to borrow one of Jordan's. He had never gotten off so quickly, which, for him, was a great thing. As much as they hated the loss of control and sensations associated with it, the quicker the better. He certainly didn't plan on doing this again anytime soon, but in a pinch like they were in now, it was pretty effective. Kerry put on his pants and was about to descend the ladder when they realized they should take off their shirt. Seeing Jordan in the same sightline as the stained shirt could be too much. They wanted, needed, Jordan and all of this to be separate. After balling up the shirt, he climbed down the ladder, expecting to see Jordan's main body sat to the left, but she was nowhere to be found.

Frowning, Kerry walked around her other side, assuming she must've used the newfound freedom in her connector to scurry around her form in some bizarre form of hide and seek. All they saw was another wall of flesh. "Jordan?"

There was no response. Kerry was terrified. Her belly was clearly still here. Surely she wasn't dead. He did the only thing he could think to do, which was pat up and down her side, trying to feel anything that would give any indication as to what happened to her.

From her now purely tactile experience, Jordan felt Kerry frantically tap her side. It occurred to her they were probably wondering what happened to her main body. Yet again, she told her body she needed to see Kerry and talk to him. Acquiescing, Jordan felt her eyeballs push out against her skin from underneath it near Kerry. The skin covering them sliced down the middle horizontally and lashes flowed out either side of the slices. Not too far below her eyes, a small pocket of skin formed a hollow pouch which was soon filled with teeth and a tongue that emanated from the surrounding skin-turned-gums. Yet another horizontal slit zipped open along the pocket as each side of the slit plumped up and reddened slightly to form her lips.

Kerry was shocked yet ecstatic to see her. "Jordan! You're OK!" They pressed their hand to her side to the right of her face. Then, they frowned.

"Um, Jordan?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you just a face?"

"Hmm? Oh, well, I was trying to be quiet and I told my body to do that, so... my main body sort of... disappeared."

"Disap-What do you mean disappeared?"

Jordan looked at the ground as much as she could from her motionless face 6 feet off the ground. "It sort of got pulled into me through my connector."

"Into you? Like is it... inside your belly or something?"

"No, I don't feel it anywhere. It just got made part of my skin."

"So then why are you just a face now?"

"I felt you patting me, so I knew you were probably wondering what was up. So I told my body I needed to see and talk to you. All I need to do that is a face."

Kerry frowned. "And what about this?" he asked, poking the blank spot between her eyes and mouth. Since her relatively featureless face was merely set on the side of her belly, the poke caused a ripple of flesh that crossed her eyes toward each other, then out in opposite directions as her lips jiggled til the wave died down.

"I'm not breathing, so I don't need a nose to see or talk to you."

"Well... tell your body you need... a body."

"Do I have to?" Jordan pouted, which, again, was quite hard to do as merely eyes and a mouth.

Kerry's mouth gaped open. "I mean... yes. We have to sign the papers."

"Fine. Just a sec. Oh, actually, I wanna test something out that'll be easier the other way around. One more sec."

With that, the slits of Jordan's eyes and mouth sealed shut and her eyeballs were subsumed into her skin once more. From the same area, the outline of a person facing her belly formed and pushed out of her skin. It was merely skin with no hair to speak of. Over the course of five seconds, the outline emerged further out of her skin until all but her connector was out. It was still all fleshtone and coated in skin, like someone had poured human skin into a person-shaped mold. First, all areas of her body with a hole or slit opened to their proper form, including her eyes and mouth once again, but also various other bits. Next, hair sprouted out of her head and around her mound, then lightly as per usual over the rest of her body. Colors started to form on her body, including the pink of her nipples. Lastly, her finger and toenails hardened into place and turned their natural light pink. 

Jordan turned to Kerry, who was pouring over each changed area like studying a painting. "Tada!"

"I'm... I'm glad you're back in one piece!" he said, still trying to process what he'd just witnessed. "So that's what you were going to test?"

"That? No, I figured I could do that. Do you have a knife?"

Kerry grabbed their pocket knife from their pants. As much as he'd hated being forced into Boy Scouts as a child to cram manliness into him, he had to admit the knife skills he'd learned there often came in handy. "Yep," they said, handing it to her. "What do you need it for?"

"This," Jordan said, slicing into her connector.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I made it clear enough in the story that being ace isn't a single experience. I'm not saying every ace person is like Kerry who is pretty much entirely sex repulsed in terms of having his genitals touched, but I just wanted to iterate that here. Asexuality literally just means not experiencing sexual attraction, so that doesn't preclude having sex or wanting sex with a romantic partner or masturbation. In the context of the story, it makes sense for Jordan to say "I know you're ace and you can't be with someone after you have sex with them," but just be aware that I'm not saying every ace person feels that way. Since the statement is related to his aceness, it makes sense to mention it in the same breath. 
> 
> Also, did you want some angst combined with disembodied hands and quasi-body horror cuz you sure got it!


	26. Severed Ties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan breaks away

"FUCK! Jordan!" yelled Kerry as he grabbed their knife from Jordan's hand. "What are you doing?!"

"Getting ready to go."

They both looked down to the 2 inch long slit around the perimeter of Jordan's connector right next to her torso. No blood was spewing out, but it was still a terrifying sight, for Kerry at least. "Just drain out!"

Jordan shrugged. "I mean, I could, but this way I can test whether I can remove parts of me. I can cut myself off of my belly, see if it... I don't know, dies or disappears or whatever, then go from there."

"'Go from'- You could bleed out! Doesn't that hurt?!"

"Nah. Feels very weird, but it doesn't hurt at all."

Kerry tilted his head. "But you have blood! You got cut by the tree the first day I saw you out here."

"The only thing I can guess is my body knew I was gonna try this out when my main body started coming out again, so it made a version of me without blood. Or maybe just the connector doesn't have blood. Either way, good to go."

Kerry was too preoccupied with staring at the gash in her skin to have any idea how to respond to that. After a moment, they put their finger into the hole, more out of curiosity than any specific need. Jordan gasped and grabbed his hand. "Excuse me!"

This jostled Kerry enough to make them realize how very strange that choice was. "I'm sorry. I just-I-" he stammered as he made to move his hand away from the slit.

"Did I ask you to stop?"

If Kerry had been confused before, now they were positively perplexed. Still, Jordan was holding his finger to the slit, so it clearly wasn't hurting her. "Does that... feel good?" they asked somewhat incredulously.

Jordan continued to stare at the gash in awe. "It feels... interesting. The edges are really sensitive," she said as she gently moved Kerry's finger around the slit in her skin.

"Jordan, we r-really have to get going."

She signed and stamped her newly-formed foot. "Damn it, you're right. Here, give me the knife back so I can finish up."

Kerry brought their right hand back to their pocket while placing their left on Jordan's shoulder. "You're sure cutting yourself off will be OK?"

"Sure! I mean, we know I can grow seemingly infinite amounts of skin, so even if my belly dies once I'm separated from it, I can just fill back up. I formed that skin between my connector and my belly, so that's why I'm not draining out right now."

He sighed and reluctantly handed the knife to her. Then, he noticed his crumpled up shirt on the ground. "Would you mind if I borrow a shirt?"

Jordan wanted so badly to make a quip about Kerry really needing to be careful about spilling on their shirt, but she knew she shouldn't mention what she had just done to him with her three extra hands. They couldn't associate that act with her or else their relationship could very well end. "Of course!" she answered. "I have a navy blue blouse with a floral print that'd look great on you. Try it on!"

Kerry grinned and rubbed her head, kissing it. "Thanks, darling! I'll be right back. Yell if you need any help."

As they came in through the back door and walked to Jordan's room, they were still trying to suppress what all had just happened. Not her slicing her belly off her body, which most people would try to suppress, but being masturbated by her. Kerry tried to focus on looking through Jordan's closet for the blouse, thinking about which shirts he liked and disliked. It was a welcome distraction from what the hands had done: not Jordan. They couldn't think for a moment that Jordan had done that to him. They were just hands, disconnected from anyone and anything, serving a purpose and nothing more. 

Kerry chuckled when they finally found the blouse Jordan had talked about. He hadn't seen Jordan in clothes too often recently besides a bikini, so he hadn't got a sense of her style since catching back up with her. They were pleasantly surprised she shared their fashion opinions by and large. He also liked floral print and almost any kind of printed shirt along with bright, striped shirts. Luckily, they were about the same size, so while the blouse was a little tighter than they'd normally wear, it fit and didn't look ridiculous. When he was about to walk out of her room, it occurred to him Jordan was nude, seeing as she'd just formed her main body after sucking it into herself. Normally, seeing her nude when not pleasuring her made them uncomfortable, but considering she'd just grown her own body from the skin of her titanic belly, her nudity was the last thing on their mind. Her old clothes were currently strewn about in the dirt where her main body had started out. He quickly grabbed yet another floral printed shirt that actually matched his own, but in gold, plus a pair of jeans. They also picked up a bra and panties, once again trying to bury the past several minutes events into the recesses of their mind.

When Kerry walked out the back door, he approached the giant belly as he had countless times over the past week, expecting to see Jordan itching her bulk or checking her phone. Instead, she was nowhere to be found around its perimeter. As they made the turn to approach her left side where they'd last seen her, they saw a 1 foot wide circle of skin upon it, raised up from the surrounding skin like a volcano. The edges were slightly jagged, and there was a clear spot where the work of crafting it had started and ended up far off the mark, so a quick chunk was removed. More smooth skin was below the raised area, as if the entire mass had 2 layers of skin and the outermost one had been perforated. Kerry brushed his fingers along the raised area in awe.

"Looks weird, don't it?"

"GAH!" Kerry jumped at Jordan approaching them. "Where were you?"

"I decided to wait by the car, but then I spotted you fingering my hole and thought I'd see what's up."

Kerry blushed and looked at the ground. "Sorry, it's just... wow! Are you feeling OK?"

Jordan nodded slowly and looked up wistfully at her now disconnected belly. "I mean, I'm not happy I have to leave this baby behind for now, but as long as the paperwork doesn't take too long, I should be fine."

"It'll be quick, darling," Kerry said, rubbing her shoulder. Then, he looked down at her and gasped. "Fuck!"

"Hmm? What is fuck?"

Kerry was beyond speech at this point, so they merely gestured at her bare, now small belly. Jordan looked down. "Oh, yeah. That."

As an accompaniment to the raised area where half of Jordan's connector remained affixed to her huge belly, the other half was still connected to her main body. Just like its counterpart, the area was raised off of her torso and jagged along the edges. This somehow wasn't the most bizarre part. Where Jordan's skin turned up to form the small cone of flesh, unlike her belly, it was apparent there was no layer of skin beneath the area. Blessedly, from Kerry's perspective, the top lip of the raised area hid the view of any internal organs or bones, but he could see a small portion of the hole in her torso. They knew if they'd bent down at all, they'd be able to look right inside her; to see her spine and hips and whatever remaining bits still functioned within her odd body.

"That doesn't... that doesn't hurt or anything?"

Jordan shrugged. "Nah. It is a little windy though, so that feels a little weird blowing inside me. But it's no big deal. Oh, you brought me clothes! Thanks, sweety!"

Kerry allowed her to grab the clothes, mouth still agape at what his girlfriend's body was capable of. When she started putting on her bra, he cleared his throat. "Yes?" she asked.

"Aren't you gonna... cover that up?"

"Duh! You just gave me a shirt."

"I don't think a shirt is gonna hide your... skin cone."

Jordan pouted. "Fine."

Using her fingers, she pinched the skin into a single point, twisting it slightly as if it were a bag of bread and patting it relatively flat. Creases remained and spun toward the center where there was still a half inch wide hole.

"Why don't you just tell your body to seal it up?"

Jordan put on her panties. "I thought about it, but I realized if I do that, I won't have a spot to match where I cut myself off my belly. I figure if I can get reattached, it'll probably be easier if I go together like a puzzle. This way, I can just unfurl it again and slot back in if at all possible."

Kerry nodded and turned back to the round mass still sitting beside them. As they poked the surface where the lower layer of skin was, they asked, "You don't feel this, right?"

Jordan finished buttoning her shirt and looked up. "Nope. I-I look forward to feeling it again as soon as possible though."

"You will, Le Ventre! Just a little time in town and we'll be back," said Kerry, rubbing her shoulder.

She looked at Kerry's arm and grinned. "Oh, that shirt DOES look great on you! It goes with your eyes!"

Kerry looked down at his blouse and pursed his lips. "You're... you're sure it does?"

"Of course!" Jordan said, putting on her jeans. Then, she frowned. "Oh, do you... not like it?"

"No! No, I do! It's just... you're OK with me wearing your clothes?"

"Why wouldn't I be? You were wearing a pantsuit when you saved me from the tree."

Kerry looked at the ground and put their hands behind their back. "It'll sound dumb," he murmured.

Jordan stepped up and hugged him to her chest. "I'm sure it won't."

They sighed. "When I buy my own stuff, even if it's makeup or clothes in the women's section, I don't feel that tense or guilty about it. I see it as being MY stuff; not women's clothes or men's clothes or anything. But whenever I've worn something of a partner's-well, a female partner's-I sometimes feel... like it's wrong. Like your stuff is official women's clothes, so if I wear it, it's bad. It's just leftover... bullshit from... from-"

"From what, Kerry?"

Kerry squeezed her tighter against his chest for a moment, then pulled away. "We need to get going or we'll be late."

"Kerry!" said Jordan as she ran after them to their truck. "Please tell me! We shouldn't hide things from each other. I'm here for you."

He opened the door and looked back at her, hating that she had a point. "I will, but in the car. We need to get down there."

Jordan walked up to the passenger's side door, looked back to her abandoned belly with a tear in her eye, and got in.


	27. Real(i)ty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kerry reveals his past trauma to Jordan. Old friends are reunited amid realty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're just here for the inflation and other bizarre Jordan stuff, you can skip this. It's 100% plot.

For the first minute of their drive to the butcher shop, Kerry was silent, focused on the road. Jordan looked over at him a few times, hoping he'd start talking about whatever had so clearly brought him down memory lane before they left. When it became apparent they weren't going to start the conversation, Jordan took the initiative. "So what happened?"

"Hmm?" asked Kerry, shocked by the sudden break in the silence. It was obvious he had been hoping Jordan would be too distraught over not having thousands of gallons of water in her to remember their previous discussion.

"You said your feeling guilty about wearing women's clothes was from a time 'before.' What happened 'before'?"

Kerry fidgeted and tried to play it off as adjusting their hands against the wheel. "Before? I mean, you know how people are. Well, shitty people. Gender roles and heteronormativity and all that shit."

Jordan frowned slightly and looked directly at Kerry. Even while keeping his eyes on the road, he could tell she was staring. "Yes, but the way you said it back there... you don't just mean that. Something else happened. Something specific."

They sighed and rubbed their left hand through their hair. "Does it have to be something specific? You don't believe society tells people what they can and can't wear for bullshit reasons?"

"No, I definitely believe that, but you're avoiding the question. Some... thing happened to make you feel bad about wearing clothes owned by a woman, not just 'women's clothes' from a store."

Kerry looked at the clock display on the dash. 3:14. There was still 20 minutes til they had to be there and it'd take 10 minutes to get to the shop. He found an empty parking lot for some failing business and pulled in, then turned off the truck. A knot was forming in their throat. He wished it'd grow and grow until he physically couldn't speak and they'd have no choice but to go straight to the shop and pretend nothing happened. 

Jordan desperately wanted to put her hand on Kerry's shoulder, but she saw how tense they were. She knew she was pushing him to tell her this, and while she knew it was something important that she needed to know, she also realized whatever it was was incredibly tough for him to discuss. She opted to look at them as they stared across the road. "What-Whatever happened, I'm here for you, Kerry. I just... I just want to know. You said you should know everything about me and I should know everything about you.... I could maybe help-"

"When I left Don's Pizzeria, where did you think I went?"

Jordan paused and tried to remember back those many years ago. "You weren't at school either..., but you didn't tell me you were moving. I wasn't really sure, but I thought maybe... witness protection or something?"

"I wish I'd moved. Even for witness protection. Changing my name wouldn't be that bad. It's not... it's not as hard to change as some things are."

"Where did you go?"

Kerry couldn't bring himself to look Jordan in the eyes yet, but he managed to look at her leg. "I hadn't even told that many people I was agender then. I had only just learned what that meant and that I was that. Before that, I asked you to use they and he for me, just cuz it seemed like it could work. I read some people did that and... that seemed right to me. But I'd told my closest friends and I wore women's clothes sometimes and... and my parents found out. They made me quit Don's, they grounded me, they didn't let me talk to my friends. And that summer after I left-"

Heavy tears started to fall down Kerry's cheeks. They managed to speak without being a blubbery mess, but their voice was still strained. "They put me in a conversion camp."

Jordan couldn't help but cry, too. She broke down and placed her hand over his. "Shit! I... Kerry, I'm so sorry! I can't...."

"I don't remember too many specifics there. I blocked them out I guess. But little pieces come back sometimes. Or I'll just have this general fear of being seen as-as feminine and I'll just know it's something to do with the crap they did there. Wearing your shirt... reminded me of something that happened at the camp. They had all the-the boys and girls separate. I don't know if any of them were... not boys like I was; if they were trans women or agender or something else, but I think most of them were gay or bi. They'd tell the boys I was with to be manly. We had to work out, play sports, do woodworking, learn about cars. And I happened to like working out. But being told day in and day out, 'you are a man! Men do this! Men don't do that! You're superior! Be strong and aggressive!'... I hated it. More than anything I'd ever hated, I hated sitting there and having this yelled at me and hearing... hearing the boys cry at night. Some of them went along with it all or at least pretended they were to survive, but some of them kept it together in the day and cried in their bunks at night. They had to be quiet cuz if the counselor heard, he'd beat you."

"I cried so... so quietly at the beginning.... But as time went on and I knew I couldn't do that, I broke down. The girls were on the floor below us. We'd do activities together in the day. They'd try to set us up or have us roleplay married couples. One of the... the people who were in the girls' group became kind of a friend. It was hard to say for certain since we couldn't really talk freely that often and we were being brainwashed, but I don't think they were a girl. That's probably why we bonded. We both were there to... to have our gender 'corrected.' But I asked them one time to let me borrow a pink bangle bracelet they had. I-I didn't even really like it that much. I just needed to have something not manly. Something to defy them and make me feel like not a man. They said they would if I'd let them borrow a pair of boxers. Not for anything sexual, just to... I guess the same reason as I had for wanting the bracelet. So we traded off and maybe a day later, the female counselor found the boxers."

"I don't blame them for ratting me out. They're... as I learned they beat the shit out of you or convince you everything you know is a lie and you'll go to Hell if you don't do what they say. They... they hit me over and over with the bracelet. They had me go to the girls' block and open my friend's drawers. They'd mixed our clothes together and they blindfolded us. If you picked what was... right for you, you were safe. If you happened to pick up the wrong thing, for me, the girl's thing, they'd slam a book on your hand or-or smack your head into the dresser.... I didn't see them after that. I hope they're... OK now."

Kerry finally looked up to Jordan, both of them struggling to see each other through their tears. "That's why I felt... wrong wearing your clothes. Back before the camp, I bought some women's clothes and makeup. But when my friend and I... when that happened, it made me see clothes owned by women as bad. I'm not saying I didn't feel guilty and wrong for just buying women's clothes after I got out and knew better, but I got over it. I still have that... all of that just stuck in my head when it comes to other people's clothes. It's owned by a woman, so I shouldn't use it because... because I'm a man."

"Kerry, sweetie!" Jordan gripped them in the tightest hug she could muster. "You're not a man! I'm so, so sorry that happened! They're fucking monsters!" Jordan pulled back slightly and looked down at her gold shirt on Kerry's toned chest. "I'm-I'm sorry wearing my shirt reminded you of all that."

"It's not your fault, darling! I didn't remember it myself. When you said it looked nice on me, it... it reminded me of my friend telling me they liked their bracelet on me. And it opened the floodgate of... bullshit that place drilled into me."

"Well, you're out now! You're safe here with me! You can raid my closet anytime!"

Kerry giggled as he wiped his eyes, trying to compose himself. "Thanks for the offer! I... I don't know that I'll take you up on it that often. I don't know that I'll ever fully get over everything that happened there. But I want to try at the very least."

Jordan sat back against her seat and sighed. "And you're trying in a way that makes us match! See, that's how you know we're the ultimate couple: matching clothes! Total power move!"

As Kerry leaned down to kiss Jordan's cheek, their phone started vibrating. He picked it up to immediately hear Flora's frantic voice. "Kerry! Something happened to Jordan! I don't know if her belly swallowed her or-or something-"

"Flora! It's OK! It's OK! She's with me!"

"What do you mean she's with you?! Her belly's here in the yard! She-"

"Hi, Flora!" cooed Jordan.

"Jordan! Jordan, you're OK?! Thank fuck! Oh my... you scared the shit out of me!"

"Sorry...."

"'Sorry'?! I come out here and it's just your huge ass belly with no you to be found and this... fucking torn bit of skin on it! I thought... I thought some animal got you or some freak t-tore you off or something! Oh, fuck! Why didn't you tell me you were going somewhere?"

"It's my fault, Flora," replied Kerry. "We... I distracted her." They winced, trying to bury that part of the day. "We had to get going to sign papers for the butcher shop and didn't think to tell you. I'm really sorry."

For a few moments, Flora was silent except for her steadily decreasing panting. "It's fine, just... keep me posted on belly developments, all right? I thought I was gonna have a heart attack."

"I will, Flora! We won't be gone too long," replied Jordan.

"See ya soon."

Kerry hung up and placed his forehead against the steering wheel. "I'm batting a thousand today, huh?"

Jordan looked up and placed her hand over theirs. "It's my belly, so it was my job to tell Flora we were going! And you couldn't help if you got an er-"

"We have to get going," interrupted Kerry, turning over the engine and quickly backing out of the parking space. 

Jordan stared at her hands in her human-sized yet greatly diminished lap. She murmured, "I'm sorry if I weirded you out."

Kerry's eyebrow turned up. "I mean, yeah, cutting your own belly off was one of the stranger things I've seen, but you're totally fine now, so-"

"No. I mean... I can't imagine it didn't weird you out with laying on my belly and-and my hands-"

"Jordan, stop."

She looked at him, both of them frowning. "I know you said you didn't want to see or hear me doing things, but-"

"Then why are you bringing it up?" Kerry asked in a clipped tone.

She snorted. "Because I did... that and you haven't said a word about it."

"Why do you think I haven't?! I don't want-I can't see you as... please, Jordan-"

"I saw how you looked when you asked me to use my hands! You thought it was weird and-and kinky or something and-"

"Please, no, Jordan! I-It's not that, I swear to you!"

"Then what is it? Why else wouldn't you even mention me jerk-"

"PLEASE! Jordan...," Kerry was clearly trying not to cry. They would already look quite the mess by the time they got to the butcher shop and more tears wouldn't help. "I can't stand to think about myself... about doing that-any of that. I told you I don't... take care of that stuff myself anyway unless I have no time to wait it out. And just thinking about... about doing that-"

"You keep saying 'that.' Use the right word. Orgasm. Cumming. Whatever you-"

"Jordan, you have to understand I'm not just being a prude, right? This isn't just some leftover baggage from the camp! Even before that, I was never interested in... in sex. No, not even just not interested. I hate it. I hate everything about it. I'm happy to get other people off, make them feel good. But the whole... process for myself is horrible. And making me talk about it or do it isn't going to make it b-"

Jordan gasped and cut them off. "I didn't make you do that!"

"I'm not saying you did! I just mean... this isn't some kind of psychological issue for me. I'm not gonna suddenly want to talk about... today or anything to do with me getting off, OK? This isn't some process I have to work through. Every time I've... I've had sex, I haven't really wanted to. Most of the time it wasn't... rape exactly. It was more that I thought I had to do that or my partner wouldn't like me. Or that maybe this next time it would be better for me somehow. And then I'd-I'd see them afterward... I'd see what I did, the gross, wrong-feeling thing I did and I c-couldn't be with them anymore. I would try. I would tell myself I could get over it and see them clearly again, but it never happened."

Jordan said nothing for a moment, her mouth agape. "And you didn't want to see me that way."

"Exactly!" Kerry exclaimed, smiling despite the conversation not deserving it. "You... I love you, Jordan. So so much. And I can't ruin that! I don't want to ruin that! I want to buy this butcher shop with you and help fill up your massive belly and sleep on top of it.... If you'll just... deal with my ridiculous hang-ups."

"They're not ridiculous! I guess it's sort of like being scared of hospitals."

As they turned into the parking lot for the butcher shop, Kerry tilted his head at Jordan as if to say "What?"

"Like you don't start out just scared of hospitals. You're scared of getting sick there or someone you know getting sick and being in there, so that just makes you scared of the whole place and anything to do with it. You don't like sex, so if you connect someone else to it, you connect them to that bad feeling."

Kerry smirked. "Not half bad. I'm-I'm sorry for making you think I thought you were gross."

Jordan rested her head on their shoulder and rubbed their arm. "It's not your fault. I was just projecting my own fears about how people see me onto you. Now, come on! Time to be big, bad adults and sign some paperwork!"

With that, the couple exited the truck and walked up to the butcher shop. Through the huge front window, they saw John and another figure talking by the old counter. Jordan held the door open for Kerry, who promptly froze in the doorway. 

"Kerry, Jordan! You two are eager beavers, huh?" said John, beaming at the prospect of finally selling the shop. Meanwhile, Jordan went back and forth from politely looking like she was paying attention to John's yammerings and turning back to Kerry who was staring at the other person in the shop like he'd seen a ghost. "I know y'all will just love the space! It'll be a thriving little shop again like it was in my Pop's day!"

John paused for a moment and took Jordan and Kerry's silence and odd looks as a sign that he needed to get this show on the road. "Sorry, don't mind me! I'm sure an entrepreneurial young man like yourself has places to be!" John looked back at the person beside him and noticed Kerry and them staring at each other. "Oh, do y'all know each other?"

Kerry twitched and tried to come up with something, "Y-Yeah, from... um, what do you call it-"

Simultaneously, Kerry said "church" while the figure said "school." John knew something fishy was going on, but figured pointing it out would potentially ruin the sale. "Great! Well, Paul, you tell the man where to sign and we'll be on our way."

Kerry looked up from where they'd been staring at the linoleum since giving their sheepish answer. As he mouthed the word "Paul," the corner of Paul's mouth twinged as he hurriedly grabbed various papers on the counter. "We'll start here. John, you sign where there's the yellow highlighter. K-Kerry, you do the one below it and... and-"

"Jordan," said the same woman, reaching forward to shake Paul's hand. "Pleasure to meet you!" She was definitely going to ask Kerry about this later, but she figured Paul seemed nice enough to warrant a handshake.

John managed to pick up on this exchange. "Oh, Paul hasn't met the Missus yet? You been hidin' her away, eh Kerry?" he said, issuing a hearty, deep laugh.

Kerry politely laughed and tried to focus on not completely screwing up their signature as Paul pointed at various other places for them to sign. After several minutes of trying to placate John's talkative nature, his side of the paperwork was all done. "Well, I hate to run off on y'all, but I've got a plane to catch. Thanks again for everything, Paul, and, you two, good luck out there!"

After finally waving John off to his car, Jordan looked back at Kerry and Paul, who were silently signing the last few things and trying to avoid looking at each other. "OK, what's going on?"

Paul and Kerry jumped and turned to Jordan, Paul's mouth agape. "Wh-What? We're just finishing the paperwork," stuttered Kerry.

"Is he your ex? The one you talked about when you were using that THING? Cuz if so, you are a piece of shit wh-"

"No! No, P-Paul's... from the camp."

Jordan gasped as Paul pressed his hands against the counter, leaning against it for support. "Oh, I'm... I'm sorry. I shouldn't... I should let you two ta-"

"She knows you were in the camp?" asked Paul incredulously. 

Kerry frowned slightly. "Yeah."

"You told a-a WOMAN you're dating that you were sent to that... place?"

Kerry paused and began to tilt his head, then said, "Ohhhh! No, I'm agender."

Paul went from tightly wound to loose and started chuckling to himself. Jordan stepped between Kerry and Paul. "And what's so funny about that?"

Paul suddenly stopped laughing as he realized how it looked. "No! I wasn't laughing at that like it's wrong or anything. I just... I'm relieved, I guess. When John said you were a man and you two were married, I kinda assumed you... that the c-camp got to you. That you still believed all that shit."

Kerry's eyes widened. "You thought I was gonna... gonna tell John that you-"

"Yes! I-I didn't know if you were still in that fucking mindspace and what you thought about... me being me."

Kerry smiled wearily. "You look more like you now. Just like I'm sure I do."

A fat tear poured down Paul's cheek as he opened his arms. "Come here!"

Kerry and Paul grasped each other like they were going to fuse, blubbering platitudes at each other. Jordan stood awkwardly at the side, sure she didn't deserve to take part in this hug-fest, until she decided to announce herself. "I'll just let you catch up, OK? It was nice to meet you, Paul!" she said, making her way toward the door. 

Neither of them heard her or noticed her leave. They were too wrapped up in the sheer emotion of seeing each other after so many years of self-discovery, pain, and joy. As Jordan exited the shop, she heard Paul say in a tear-filled voice, "I'm sorry I told on you!" 

Jordan realized exactly who Paul had been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it a huge coincidence that Paul shows up the same chapter? Yes. But 1) This is a small town and 2) This story already has a woman swallowing a lake so is that really any less likely?


	28. Jelly Belly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan attempts to reconnect to her belly. Flora brings up something she shouldn't have.

As Jordan finished yet another level of the latest Match 3 game, she heard the door to the butcher shop open. She looked up to see Paul walking to his car, teary-eyed with a clipboard in hand. Once he opened his car door, he looked over to where Jordan leaned against the wall several feet away and yelled, "It was nice meeting you, Jordan! You've got a great partner!"

Jordan smiled and waved back. "Nice meeting you, too, Paul!"

Seeing as Kerry hadn't yet left their new home, Jordan walked back a couple storefronts over to the butcher shop and came inside. Kerry was sitting on the ground with their back against the counter, wiping their eyes on the back of their hands. He quickly looked up at her. "I'm sorry, don't mind me."

"You have nothing to be sorry for! Seeing Paul again was... a lot, I'm sure. Especially after you just told me about him right before you saw him again."

Kerry's eyes bugged out. "How did you know Paul was who I talked about before?"

"When I left, I heard him say he was sorry for telling on you."

Kerry nodded and clasped their hands around their knees while Jordan joined him on the floor. "I told him what I told you: he didn't have much choice there. He said he'd been afraid telling on me had pushed me back in terms of... discovering myself. Like everything they did to us after would damage me enough that I'd still be insisting I'm cis and straight."

"You beat them," Jordan said softly, wrapping her arm around his shoulders as he laid his head on hers. "You know what you want and who you are and you didn't let those people change your heart."

"Paul said he was glad I was there. Not glad that I was PHYSICALLY there. No one should ever be in a place like that.... He said I was the only person who'd talk to him about gender. Everyone else in... in the girls area would ignore him or tell him to talk to a counselor. They either didn't want to stir the pot or they bought into what they were taught. And he was the same for me... a voice of reason in all that bullshit."

"Well, it's good you got to catch up and find out he's doing OK."

Kerry grinned and closed his eyes in bliss. "It was good.... And speaking of good, we have a house!"

Jordan jumped up and squealed. "YES! Well, more precisely, we have a butcher shop, but as long as I can plop my sweet tum down here, it's as good as home!"

Kerry stood up and placed their hand against the counter. "It sure is! Just as soon as we get rid of the counter and fix it up a bit."

"Yeah, sure, I guess."

Kerry walked up to the pouting Jordan. "Darling, we talked about this. We need electricity, plumbing, and a big flat area before you can settle down here."

She sighed. "I know. I guess I was just thinking of this place as a done deal. It's our place now, so we move in and that's it."

"I already got the names of some contractors to look it over. I can't think it would take more than a few months."

"A few months?! That's gonna be October! I'll be freezing my butt and belly off outside by that point!"

"Well, it probably won't get below freezing in October, but you're right. You could always fill up in my basement."

Jordan's face went deadpan. "Oh, yes, how charming. My belly spread out in a cold, concrete basement."

"I told Flora before, I have a sun room where I can cut into the floor down to the basement. That way I can drop in on you."

Jordan tapped her chin. "Hmm... I'll have to think on it. As long as part of me's close enough to the furnace or hot water heater, that could work. Might need to swallow a pump to get that water moving around me, but-"

"Like you said, think on it. Now, how about we lock up and get home so I can sleep some before work?"

"Of course," said Jordan, turning toward the door. "And I can see about becoming whole again."

"'Whole?'" asked Kerry.

Through her blouse, Jordan peeled part of her gaping belly skin back, opening the hole slightly as the creases around it were smoothed out. The section tented up against her shirt. "Mmm.. that feels better."

Kerry looked at the parking lot out the large window, thankfully seeing no one nearby. "Does it hurt for your skin to be pushed down?"

"It doesn't hurt exactly. It just feels... cramped. Like laying on your boob the wrong way, you know?"

Kerry giggled. "Well, I don't know, but I think I see what you mean. Let's get going before someone notices your shirt."

"Huh?" Jordan looked down to where her skin flap poked against her shirt. "Oh! Yeah, might arouse some suspicion. Off we go!"

\---------------------------

As Kerry's truck pulled into the driveway, Jordan leaned forward to see if her belly was still where she'd left it. Sure enough, she spotted a sliver of her old mass peeking from behind the house. She grinned and took off her seatbelt before the truck had even stopped. "Someone's eager," said Kerry as they turned off the ignition.

Jordan opened the door and got out. "Mm hmm," she said disinterestedly.

Kerry trailed behind her to her awaiting bulk. It looked no worse for wear after an hour or so on its lonesome. The jagged hole where Jordan had cut her connector from herself was still as jagged and creepy looking as it had been to start. As they turned the corner toward the back porch, they found Flora seated on the pool chair, typing away on her laptop in her bikini. She looked up and waved at the couple. "Hello hello! How'd the adulting go?"

Kerry held up the shop keys on his keychain and smiled ear to ear. "We got the shop!"

"Wonderf-" Flora started to congratulate the new property owners until she spotted a bit more skin out of the corner of her eye than she'd expected.

Jordan had wasted no time in her quest to reattach herself to her belly. Her shirt was completely unbuttoned and she began stripping it from herself as quickly as possible. "Yeah, no, thanks, Jordan. I definitely wanted to see your tits today."

Jordan managed to pay attention long enough to give a frustrated glance at Flora before throwing her shirt to the ground. "I'm leaving my bra on."

"Pardon me! You're just walking around outside in your bra. Much better."

"You have a bikini on! How is a bra any different from a bikini top?"

Flora looked down from her bikini-covered tits to Jordan's bra-covered ones and shrugged then blanched. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!"

Jordan frowned in confusion, then followed Flora's sightline to her belly. "Oh yeah, that's where I cut myself off my belly."

Flora got up and started sputtering. "You cut... cut yourself-there's a hole in.... You cut your belly off?!!"

"Yep," Jordan nodded as she began pulling the remaining sides of the hole out to their original position away from her body. Flora approached her side as she gaped at the fleshy peak with a hole in the middle. Cautiously, she held her hand out as if to touch the skin. Jordan looked up and smiled. "Sure, you can cop a feel. Kerry, you, too, if you want, darling."

"N-No thanks... I'm good," replied Kerry, scratching their head and looking away from their girlfriend's torso. Flora poked the skin and traced the contour of the creases running along it from the edge to trail out where her skin was relatively normal. Having been bunched up against her body for so long, the skin had small red lines where it had smushed against itself. Jordan couldn't help but hum at the pleasant sensation of skin on skin. "If you wanna work on the inside of the hole, too, I wouldn't be mad."

This broke Flora out of her stupor. She yanked her hand back and her eyes bulged from their sockets. "No, no, not touching your hole! Definitely not!"

Jordan cackled and even Kerry blushed and giggled. Flora rolled her eyes and looked over to the awaiting, 9 foot high belly. "So what are you gonna do with this?"

"Gonna try to reconnect to it."

"Try? You did this without knowing if you could reattach?!"

Jordan shrugged. "Even if I can't, I'll just seal up my hole and fill back up again."

"Jordan, please stop calling it your hole," Flora replied. Her friend's capacity to make everything a double entendre knew no bounds.

"I won't have to for long. Now, let's see what happens," Jordan said, approaching her huge mass.

She lined the edges of her connector to where it had been split from her belly. Pinching one section toward the left against its matching section on her belly, she pressed them together, then rubbed them in a circle, hoping they'd seal together. The two patches of skin stayed separate even after several seconds of coaxing. Jordan frowned. "Nothing's happening."

Kerry stepped forward. "Maybe try telling your body you need to reconnect to your belly?"

"Good idea, love," Jordan responded, turning to grin at them before turning back to her belly. She told herself, "You need to get back on this belly. You need to be part of this again." Still, after a minute or so of imagining herself atop her giant bulk or even hanging from its side, nothing happened.

"Well, shit," sighed Jordan. "Worth a shot, I guess. Oh well, guess I'll just seal myself up and start ag-"

"Wait! You don't get off that easy!" said Flora.

"Get off with what?"

"This!" Flora said, gesturing emphatically at the huge belly.

"I did get off it. Hence this whole... thing."

Flora put her head in her hands and groaned. "No, I mean, what are you gonna do with this... detached belly?"

"What do you mean what am I gonna do with it? Nothing! I can't connect to it anymore."

"Right! So... what's happening with it? How are you gonna remove a giant skin sack full of water from our yard?""

Jordan paused, looking at said skin sack. "Very carefully?"

Flora rolled her eyes. "I did the math and just the skin of your belly weighs 360 pounds. And of course, the water weighs much more than that. Pretty sure you can't just roll that up by the road for trash day."

Jordan tapped her chin. "Even if we can't get rid of it right away, I'm sure it'll come in handy for something or other."

"I can't deal with this right now. You two figure out what to do with it. I'm getting dinner."

Kerry and Jordan watched Flora as she trudged inside, then turned to Jordan's old mass once more. "Um... so yeah, what are we gonna do with that?" asked Kerry.

Jordan furrowed her brows, then immediately unfurrowed them. "Oh! We could cut the top off: replace the pool!"

Kerry laughed. "Not sure if you're being serious, but... yeah, that wouldn't work. I think the skin would just buckle under the pressure and the water would spill out. Plus, that water wouldn't stay clean for long. Do you think you could... nah, that's ridiculous."

"Kerry, the past week has proven I am the Queen of Ridiculousness."

"Eh, I don't know that you're at Rob Dyrdeck levels yet, but you've got me there. I was thinking... you could sort of... swallow your old belly?"

Jordan's mouth fell open, though not enough to swallow her massive bulk beside her. "Swallow?!"

"Well, not swallow, but you could... form your belly around your old belly and just sort of... flow over it."

"I don't think that'd work. I could get over most of it if I formed skin around it, but I can't get under my belly. I guess I could try to form around it as much as possible, then grow legs and try to lift it so I could go all the way under, but I don't think I'd have enough grip. It'd probably just plop out from under me."

Kerry snorted. "Now that's quite the image! Hey, why don't you just cut a hole in the side and fill back up with that water?"

Jordan shook her head. "Oh, no! It felt pretty lukewarm back when I was connected to it, so I'm sure it's only warmer now." She tested this by placing her hand against her old skin. "Yeah, see, that'd feel terrible."

As if it would prove anything, Kerry laid their hand next to Jordan's on her previous skin, then slid it over on top of hers. "I'm guessing you're ready to fill back up, right?"

"Very much so!"

Kerry grabbed her hands and rubbed his thumbs against her palms. "So we have two options: either you get growing out here and I go in your room to sleep some before work or you come home with me and fill up in the basement while I sleep there."

Jordan frowned slightly as she watched Kerry massage her palms. "Either way, I don't get to spend time with you."

"I know, darling, but... I can't sleep near you while you're filling up. That didn't turn out the best last time."

Jordan pulled her hands out of theirs and crossed her arms, looking upset. "I'm sorry."

"Jordan, I told you, it wasn't your fault. I was just dumb. If you fill up in my basement, when I get home from work, I can work on cutting the hole in the floor of the sun room for your skylight. Plus, I'm sure the basement's nice and cool."

"Hmm... I bet it is. Fine, you've convinced me. I'll just grab my laptop and a book and we can go," Jordan said, turning toward the back door.

"Ahem," coughed Kerry. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Jordan's eyebrow tilted. "What?"

"Well, for one thing, my neighbors would probably appreciate you wearing a shirt-"

"Prude."

"-And you might want to cover the gaping hole in your stomach," said Kerry, pointing at said gaping hole.

"Ah," said Jordan, staring down at the ridge of skin that hid the hole from her. "Right then."

Jordan told her body she needed to have a complete, holeless belly. Sure enough, the raised area of skin bent itself back slightly inward toward Jordan's body. From the edges, new skin grew out like paint being poured. In no time at all, it came together at the center of the hole and sealed up, looking as if Jordan had never had a crater in her belly. She looked down to the area and patted her hollow stomach, grinning at the thumping sound it produced. "Now, all I need to do is fill this sucker up. I'll just get a quick swig for the road."

"Jordan, if it's not too much trouble, I'm really tired and ready to sleep some before work. Would it be OK if you just wait to get to my basement before filling up?"

She grabbed her shirt from where it was bunched up in the yard and began putting it back on. "It's fine, Kerry. Your house isn't too far away. I'll just go tell Flora I'm leaving and get my stuff."

"Meet ya at the truck, Le Ventre," said Kerry, lovingly admiring Jordan as she buttoned up her shirt.

"I'll be right there, darling!" she cooed, walking to the back door as Kerry went around the side yard.

As Jordan went inside her bedroom to grab her laptop and purse, Flora emerged from her room in her pajamas. "A little early for PJs, isn't it?"

"Fearing your friend was torn apart by wild animals will do that to you."

Jordan looked at the carpet and frowned. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you what we were doing."

"It's OK," said Flora, putting her arm on Jordan's shoulder. "Just keep me posted next time. And speaking of fashion choices, did I see Kerry in your gold, flowery blouse?"

"Yes...," replied Jordan warily, not sure if Flora sounded happy for Kerry's good fashion sense or at finding something to mock them for.

"Oh, no, I like it on him! Matches his eyes!"

Jordan smiled. "It does. Hugs them in all the right places, too...."

"Yeah, it's good you're encouraging him to be himself after everything he's gone through."

Jordan looked up from grabbing her laptop. "What do you mean 'everything he's gone through'?"

Flora paused, afraid she'd awoken a sleeping bear. "I... I mean, I shouldn't say. It's their thing to tell you."

"Are you-" Jordan started, considering how likely she thought it was Flora could be talking about anything other than what she assumed she was talking about. She decided it must be. "-Are you talking about the conversion camp?"

"Yeah."

Jordan pursed her lips and picked up her purse. "OK."

"Am I missing something? Did I say something wrong?" asked Flora, genuinely confused about the situation.

Jordan sighed and turned to her roommate. "No, it's nothing to do with you. Sorry, I just... I need to get going. I'm gonna stay the night at Kerry's."

"Ooooohh!" said Flora like she was part of the audience for a 90s sitcom.

Jordan deadpanned. "Flora, you said yourself you saw me glowing while Kerry used a vibrator on me."

Flora nodded, then frowned. "Wait, a vibrator? Why would he use a vibrator?"

"Like you said before, it's their thing to tell you if they want to," said Jordan. She then whispered to herself, "And it seems like they'll tell you anything before me."

"Fair enough," replied Flora, holding up her hands. "Have fun. I'd say to drink plenty of fluids, but I think you've got that one covered."

Jordan would normally smile at her friend's quips, but she suddenly wasn't in the mood. "Night."

Leaving through the front door, Jordan opened the passenger's side door of Kerry's truck and closed it halfway between a normal close and a slam. Kerry looked up, blinking. "Ready?"

Jordan set her things down by her feet, crossed her arms, and sighed. Kerry went to put their hand on Jordan's shoulder, but she turned toward them in anger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I considered letting Jordan be able to reconnect to her belly, but it seemed like that'd open a can of worms, plus it made more sense to me that she wouldn't be able to. Also, there's the added ridiculous bonus of characters having to figure out what to do with a huge, detached belly.


	29. Tums in the Deep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan confronts Kerry and grows to enjoy their basement.

Kerry removed their hand from Jordan's shoulder as soon as they saw her face. He had no idea why she was making such a sour face, but he knew it couldn't be anything good. After a moment, they finally asked, "What's wrong?"

Jordan stared straight out the windshield, her face set in a frown. "You told Flora about the camp." It was halfway between a statement and a question.

Kerry squinted as Jordan turned to face him, ready to hear his response. "Yeah... I did."

Jordan huffed. "You told her about it before me! Why?"

It hit them like a sack of bricks. "Are you jealous that I told her before you?"

"Jeal-I.... Jealous?! I mean... I guess, yeah? But more than jealous! We're dating and you hadn't told me about what happened there, but you told Flora?"

Kerry made to hold Jordan's hand, but she pulled it back. He tried not to tear up. "I'm sorry. The only reason I told her is we were talking about what you'd do during the winter."

"What does that have to do with the camp?"

Kerry sighed. "Flora wasn't seeing how important being big and round and all that was to you. She thought you were just being... childish or something. I needed to give her an example of someone else who'd had a great thing, who'd been free to express themselves and be themselves, but had that t-taken away."

Jordan looked down to her lap, wringing her hands. "So... so you just told her to prove I wasn't being dumb and needed to stay the way I wanted?"

"Yeah."

Jordan was silent for a moment, realizing her righteous anger wasn't quite so righteous and feeling shitty about it. Then, she looked up to him. "Then why didn't you tell me after you told her?"

"Jordan, I... I don't love talking about my time there. It's not something I want to think about all the time. I had to tell Flora, but... I figured it would probably come up at some point in our relationship and I'd just tell you then. Like I did today."

"I'm a horrible person," said Jordan, her head in her hands. "I'm so sorry, Kerry! Where do I get off yelling at you f-"

"No, no, you're not horrible!" said Kerry soothingly, rubbing her shoulder. "I'm sure finding out she knew that before you did out of context was upsetting. Believe me, it wasn't a hoot telling her about it. I... I didn't really wanna tell you about it."

"I know, and I shouldn't blame you for not wanting to talk about it. It was... terrible.... I'm sorry, I'm keeping you up. Let's get back home."

Kerry grinned at Jordan calling their house "home," and turned on the ignition. "It's fine, Le Ventre."

\----------------------------------

Pulling into his driveway, Kerry looked to Jordan beside him and grinned from ear to ear. "What? Do I have something on my face?" asked Jordan.

"No, it's just... you're here. At my house. It makes everything feel more real somehow."

Jordan smiled right back and gave Kerry a tame peck on the cheek, though it hardly felt tame to them as they blushed. "Right. Let's get you set up in the basement."

As they got out, Jordan made to walk over to the front door, but Kerry started going around the back. Jordan stopped and tilted her head. "Are we not going inside?"

"Huh? Oh, no. This place was built before anyone cared about housing codes, so there's no way to get into the basement from inside. There's just an entrance in the back."

Jordan followed him back around the house to a set of concrete stairs leading to the basement. Jordan smiled as she spotted a few tiny windows along the top of the basement walls. They were just enough to allow her some light as she filled up within, but not enough that any nosy neighbors would suspect a woman was growing gigantic inside. Kerry fumbled with the keys to the rarely used door and pushed it open. The space was unfinished with a concrete floor and cinder blocks forming the walls. It didn't cover as many square feet as the structure above it, with about half of the house, a clear addition, left to sit on dirt. Other than some duct work, an electrical panel, and a heating and cooling system for the main house above, the space was empty and fairly clean for a basement. "At least I know you're not a hoarder."

"I've only been living here about a year, so I don't have much extra to store," he answered, suppressing a yawn.

"I'm sorry, darling! I'm keeping you awake! Just tell me where the hose is and I'll get started."

Kerry smirked and went back to the door. "I forgot, it's outside. I'll toss it through."

As Kerry went back the way he came, Jordan took in her surroundings, especially appreciating the lack of a staircase to the first floor. She'd been afraid Kerry's basement would have an impediment to her belly fully spreading out across the cool floor in a big, round lump, but luckily, no such obstacle existed. From behind her, she heard one of the tiny windows squeak open and a metal sound ping against the floor, echoing through the empty space. It was the metal end of a garden hose, followed by the rest of said hose. Soon enough, Kerry was back through the door. "Hello, old friend!" said Jordan, staring at the hose.

"I was only gone a min-Oh!" said Kerry, quickly realizing their obliviousness and giggling. "Well, I'll leave you to it. I'd suggest starting right about here-"

Kerry walked over to a spot 8 feet back from the door and 10 feet away from the wall to the right of the door. "Whenever I cut a hole in the sun room, this'll be a good spot for your main body to be so I'm not stuck against a wall topside. And it'll give you a good bit of space for your front to grow."

"Hmm... looks good. Yeah, I'd prefer to be smack in the center of the room to be more proportional, but this'll do."

Kerry put their arm around Jordan's shoulder. "Sweety, please don't fill up the whole basement. If something happens, it'd be hard to get to you that way."

"Fine, fine! I'll sacrifice some size for safety. Now you get to bed," said Jordan, running her hands through his hair.

Kerry went back up the steps once more and walked over to the spigot. Jordan grabbed the hose and slipped it down her gullet by a couple feet, ready to fill her empty belly for the umpteenth time. Before the flow could start, Kerry tossed something else through the window: a long string. They yelled down to Jordan, "When you're all done, just pull on the string and it'll turn the faucet off."

"Mmhmm!" she hummed against the hose deep in her throat as she picked up the string. Then, Kerry turned the spigot on full blast, sending the water down the green hose and into his girlfriend's awaiting belly. Jordan smiled at the cool, refreshing feeling of water slowly making its way up her insides and gave Kerry a thumbs up, which they returned. With that, he turned back to go inside. 

Jordan's stomach grew to about 3 feet out from her before remembering she needed to go back to the spot Kerry had suggested. She was still able to shuffle over, but the weight of the liquid within her as it bulged down over her lap and partially covered her thighs made walking difficult. With each slow step, the mass jiggled and sloshed. The stretching, tightening feeling was back in full force, and Jordan loved every moment of it. It didn't hurt like one would expect it to; it felt more like being bloated, except with a purpose and literal sense of growth. Jordan fought against the weight hanging from her as long as she could until eventually her belly formed a tear drop shape with the widest part draped across her knees. Finally, her poor legs could no longer take the strain of holding up such a massive load and they gave out. Her front half fell forward, her growing stomach hitting the ground with a resounding smack. The water displaced itself to push further out from her sides, resolving itself through a minute or two of wobbling until she was laying atop a slightly flattened sphere of flesh.

Jordan was in Heaven. Filling herself inside had a distinctly different feel to her earlier outdoor experiences. While the grass had felt nice and even a tad ticklish against the bottom of her belly, the cold concrete floor had its own charms. It was as smooth as Jordan's mass, with the exception of a long crack that went through a quarter of the space toward the center of the room. As her stomach spread out to this area, she took a sharp intake of breath as she realized she could feel the crack's contours. While her skin was far too thick to press into the crack, her nerves were sensitive enough to know where it was below her. Similarly, when her front section began to press against the wall, she closed her eyes, taking in the exquisite feeling of the cinder block against her. Jordan had assumed masonry was masonry and the floor and walls would feel the same, but she was glad to be proven wrong. Whereas the floor was sleek and even against her bottom, the cinder block was rough and uneven. The bricks retained the soothingly cool temperature of the dirt around it, but the grit against her belly felt like a bizarre, frigid massage. What's more, the mortar between the blocks added a new texture and allowed her bulk to press itself into its grooves. If the walls had been transparent, one would have seen their outline mapped across Jordan's mass.

While Jordan had truly intended to follow Kerry's instructions and not fill up the entire basement, the glorious sensations of growing her belly left her in a trance, unaware of just how big she was becoming. Naturally, since she was filling up without a dreaded pump, it would still take quite a while to entirely fill the room, but since the basement was much smaller than her previous width of 15 feet and height of 9 feet, it was not nearly as long as she'd realized. Around 10 pm, an hour and a half after she'd distantly heard Kerry's truck start to head to his job, Jordan felt something hard poke her head. Frowning, she turned her head, though found the item in question was pressed so hard against her scalp, it made movement difficult. She spread her arms out and pressed her head against her cold belly with the hose still trailing out of her mouth, then looked up. 

Sure enough, one of the numerous metal brackets seated between the floor joists in the ceiling had been the culprit. As she looked around and took a quick inventory of the number of walls she felt smushed against her belly (4), Jordan realized she had grown a tad larger than anticipated. In short, she was huge and filled all but the last 6 inches or so of space in the basement. Quickly, she yanked on the string still clutched in her right hand. Mercifully, the windows were high enough up that a small portion was still open to the outside world, allowing the string to pull the spigot closed and halt the flow of water into Jordan. Using both hands, she pulled the feet of hose from out of her belly and throat and deposited it atop her mass. She wanted to feel bad about growing more than she'd intended, but the wonderful feeling of thousands of gallons of water still swirling inside her pushed that feeling to the furthest recesses of her mind.

Jordan laid against her belly and hugged it, relishing the feeling of being so full that she filled an entire room. Toward the front right, she felt the door frame with the doorknob lightly poking into her side. Her mass had been shaped by the room containing it into a rectangle. While roundness was one of her primary goals, she had to admit she'd had some fun so far exploring the new shapes her belly offered, such as her cylindrical form and now a rectangle. She giggled as she considered what non-Euclidian shapes her mass could take on, then remembered she didn't actually know what a non-Euclidian shape was.

After a short while drinking in the various sensations her drinking in caused her and participating in more than a little self-love, Jordan checked her phone as she listened to the crickets chirp through the open window. She responded to a text from Flora an hour or so prior that read, "How's it going at Kerry's?" Her reply was a blind selfie of her back half. Jordan cackled at the sight of it: most of the screen was a sea of skin with only the floor joists and part of the window indicating this was anything other than a close up shot of someone's thigh. Flora merely responded with a thumbs up emoji.

Just as Jordan was about to tuck in for the night, she felt the open window press against her belly from where it had closed slightly in the breeze. Then, she heard an animal noise. If the night hadn't been interesting before, it was about to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, you thought I was done with cliffhangers? I'm back, baby!
> 
> Also, yes, the chapter title is an LOTR reference and, yes, I'm inordinately proud of it.


	30. What Dragged in the Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kerry meets Jordan's new friend and finds a new way to enter their home.

When Kerry returned home from a long night's work, the first rays of sunlight were just peeking over the horizon. They considered letting Jordan sleep in, but knowing how accident prone she was even before she started growing her belly, they figured checking on her was more important than her beauty sleep. After dropping off a few things inside, Kerry walked back outside and down the concrete steps to the basement. When he turned the doorknob, he found slightly more resistance than normal. As soon as the knob was fully turned, however, the door pushed open toward them of its own accord.

After laying against the doorknob for so long, Jordan's skin pushed the door out toward Kerry as soon as it had the chance. They managed to catch the door before it smacked into the cinder block wall at the bottom of the stairs. Inside, the newly revealed wall of flesh jiggled as the water inside settled from its newfound freedom. There was just enough give that the skin poked out of the door by a few inches at its furthest point in the middle of doorway. Kerry's eyes bulged out of his skull before he sighed. "Um, Jordan?"

There was no response and no movement from the massive belly. Kerry wasn't worried, seeing as Jordan seemed to be a heavy sleeper and there was a good deal of water and skin between them and her ears, but they still wanted to be sure she was OK. Plus, he wanted to tell her off at least a little for getting large enough to jam her stomach through the doorway. Figuring their voice wasn't going to carry enough, they opted to slap her mass a few times. He really hoped his neighbors weren't awake already to hear the sound of skin on skin from his yard. 

Faintly, a muffled voice called down from where Jordan's main body surely sat atop her mass. "Huh? Kerry?"

"Yes, it's me," they replied, resting their hands against her form, sending a tiny shiver around the section of her squeezed into the door frame. "I thought you were gonna stay a bit smaller."

Jordan paused for a beat. "I know. I'm sorry. I got a little carried away."

Kerry reached his hand to the top of the door and poked the flesh in front of him. "A little?"

"It's surprisingly difficult to pay attention to how big one's getting when there's the delightful feeling of cool concrete and scratchy little cinder blocks and the knowledge I'm wider than the door."

Kerry sighed. "I can't hear you too well down there, but I'm sure you sighed. I AM sorry. I really meant to stay much smaller than this."

They couldn't stay mad at her. "It's all right, Le Ventre," Kerry replied, kissing the belly in front of him.

"Oooh! If I have to get this big to get smooches, I might just swallow the ocean next time."

"So are you filling up the whole room?"

"Yep! Well, I'm maybe 6 inches away from the ceiling. Not sure if you're aware, but the metal brackets between the joists aren't totally level since only a few of them are touching me."

"Doesn't that hurt? Well, that and being crammed in between 4 walls?"

"Nah! I mean, I wasn't going anywhere outside anyway except when I needed to grow legs for a bit. It kinda feels comfy being contained. It's nice and cool. Plus, I'm a rectangle now!"

Kerry giggled. "Well, good for you, I guess!"

In the ensuing silence, Kerry heard a jingling sound from inside their basement. "What's that?"

"Hmm? Oh, well, the thing is... I made a friend."

Kerry's eyebrow turned up as far as it possibly could. After sputtering for a few moments, Jordan took the initiative. "You should probably just come to the window and see."

Doing just that, Kerry pulled the window open slightly. There was only 6 inches or so of space toward the top not reserved by Jordan's belly. Kerry grabbed his phone and turned on the flashlight. They briefly considered laying it on top of Jordan's belly to turn her into a glowing orb once more, but they thought their neighbors would shit themselves if they saw a huge, red sack of skin filling up their basement. Instead of terrifying them, he laid the phone on top of her bulk so the light shined toward the ceiling. Then, they met Jordan's friend.

A sleek, black cat wearing a green color sat 5 feet to the right and slightly behind Jordan's main body. It was licking its front paws with each swipe of its tongue jingling the metal tags affixed to its collar. It looked up to Kerry briefly before returning to its cleaning. "How did it get in here?"

"Right about when I stopped filling up, he just sorta hopped on me and made himself comfortable."

"He hasn't... scratched you or anything, right?"

"No, no! He's been a perfect gentleman! Or... lady, maybe. I mean, it's a cat. I didn't really check. Come here, baby!" Jordan patted the skin to the right of her main body and smacked her lips, trying to get the cat to come to her. Sure enough, it was interested in more petting and walked across her bulk to sit beside her. As she started to scratch its head, it began to knead her belly like the world's largest lump of dough.

Kerry gasped. "Don't let him scratch you!"

"It's fine, Kerry! He's not using his claws too much. When he did a little earlier, I just toughened up my skin right th-Yep, I gotta do it again, I guess."

Jordan's skin around the cat didn't look any different from the rest of her watery form, but it thickened up just enough to prevent the cat's claws from digging into her while still allowing her to feel the soothing sensation of the kneading little feet.

"Do you know whose cat he is?"

Kerry shook their head, then quickly realized Jordan couldn't see them from so far behind her. "Not exactly, but I've seen him in the neighborhood before. Someone around here must not care enough about the wildlife to let him run around outside."

"Do you think you could try to get him out?"

"Sure," replied Kerry, who started meowing and making all manner of other bizarre noises to try to lure the cat over. It merely continued to knead away at Jordan's skin and purr. Then, he looked down at the string still trailing from the spigot to near Jordan's hands. Grabbing the bit closest to them, Kerry began to tug it slightly, dragging the string along Jordan's mass. This quickly grabbed the cat's attention. It stared intently at the twitching string where it disappeared through the small window. Jordan froze and gripped her front, staring forward. 

Finally, the cat pounced after the string and clutched it between its paws further behind Jordan's main body. As it rolled on its side to toy with its prize, Kerry pulled, sliding the cat along Jordan's belly until it reached the window. Remembering where it had come from, the cat let go of the string and hopped down through the small space at the top of the window, landing beside Kerry and rubbing against his legs. 

"He's n-not right next to me, right?" asked Jordan, her voice quavering.

"Right...," replied Kerry, unsure why that mattered.

Suddenly, the ground next to Kerry shook just enough for them to feel the vibration through their shoes. Through the window, he saw Jordan's skin give a great shiver, rattling the glass. A faint noise of wood creaking from the ceiling above her confirmed just how tightly she was wedged into the basement. "Jordan, are you OK?!"

"Y-Yeah. Sorry, I had to hold back from shaking with all that. The string dragging along my skin felt... wonderful! And then you dragged the cat and just... he's a soft boy!"

"You couldn't shiver before?"

"I was afraid if I did, it'd scare him and he'd either scratch me or shit himself."

"Well, I don't blame ya for not wanting that!" said Kerry, chuckling as the cat ran off to another adventure.

Kerry heard a soft slapping noise from inside their basement. Jordan said seductively, "Come up here, sweet thing!"

He patted the skin in front of him, issuing a smaller yet still sizeable quake through the portion of Jordan's belly before him. "I would, my darling, but I can't exactly fit through the window. You're taking it up just a smidge."

Jordan sighed, then said, "Ooh! I know what to do! Give me a second."

Kerry stepped back. They didn't know exactly what Jordan had in mind, but they figured stepping back a bit couldn't hurt. In front of him, Jordan's skin began to sink down, starting in the middle of where it was laid next to the window, then pushing down and out. Eventually, the skin reached down to the bottom of the window, forming a divot that tapered up toward roughly halfway down Jordan's body. Kerry stared in amazement. "How... How did you do that?"

"Meh. Just sucked in a little skin right there and grew some more skin around it. Now get up here so I can flatten out."

Kerry did just that, getting on their hands and knees to climb through the window and onto their girlfriend's massive belly. The skin he kneeled on didn't jiggle nearly as much as he anticipated, owing to how much she'd toughened it up. As they reached the top of the short incline, the slope gently returned to its original place, tilting them til they were laying down on Jordan's back section. Reaching over, Kerry pulled the chain on the ceiling light next to him, illuminating the sheer width of Jordan's bulk. Jordan loved how speechless her impressive belly left Kerry, but she was ready for some even more personal attention. She whistled, causing them to quickly turn their head toward her main body. "Over here!"

"Sorry! Just... you're getting good at knowing how your body works, huh?"

"As you should be," she said, giggling. "Now come here!"

While Kerry crawled over Jordan's top like he was going through a military obstacle course, he looked down at a straight, red mark across her skin. "What's this from?" Kerry asked, rubbing the tender area.

"Hmm? Oh, well, I had to push my skin up around where I let you come in, so that part was smushed against the metal brackets."

Kerry frowned, then quickly snorted. "I was about to ask 'doesn't that hurt?,' but I'm beginning to learn the answer to that is almost always gonna be no, huh?"

Jordan grinned. "You're catching on! Yeah, it didn't feel amazing, but if it meant letting you get up here, it was well worth it."

Kerry leaned down to press kisses up and down the section of reddened skin. Naturally, the blush resulting from such treatment made the red lines disappear. Finally, Kerry made their way up to Jordan's main body and rubbed their hand up and down her spine. As she came in for a kiss, his hand trailed past her spine, where Jordan let him "come in" in a much different way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the chapter title sucks ass, but I couldn't think of anything that clever this time.


	31. Raindrops Keep Falling on My Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kerry helps Jordan brave the elements and attempts to shine some light on Jordan's temporary home.

After an hour of enjoying Jordan's watery form, Jordan frowned. Kerry noticed and stroked her hair. "What's wrong?"

"It's raining."

Kerry listened, but only heard the oceanic sounds of slightly stirred water where his head was laid against his girlfriend's belly. "I don't hear any rain."

"Neither do I, but I feel it."

Kerry lifted their head and looked at Jordan, tilting their head. "Are you like one of those old people who says they can feel in their bones when a storm's coming?"

Jordan giggled. "No, more like I can feel raindrops falling onto my belly."

Kerry looked up at the ceiling a foot away from his head and around the rest of the now cramped basement. "I don't think there are any leaks in here. Plus, it's the basement, so if there were a leak, it'd probably be on the first fl-"

"Kerry, the door's open."

"Hm?" they replied, then turned toward the small crack formed by Jordan's mass at the top of the basement door. Crawling over across his water bed of a lover, he stuck his hand down her side, feeling the rain that had started to bead up on her wide skin. Kerry looked back to where Jordan sat upon her belly. "Oh! Um, do you want me to close the door?"

"If you wouldn't mind. If it were all across me, I think it'd feel nice, but as it is, it's a tad ticklish and just... I don't know, gross feeling."

"Could you form an arm and close the door?"

Jordan tapped her chin. "That's an idea! Wait, no, it wouldn't work. There's a little bit of me past the door, so once the door got right up against me, my arm wouldn't be able to pull it all the way closed. It'd be trapped between the door and my belly."

Kerry smacked her top with resolve and turned back toward the door. "No problem! Kerry to the rescue! But... how am I gonna get down?"

"Same way as you got up, though I guess I could let you out of the door just to make it easier. Back up a little."

After Kerry scooched their butt to the side of the door and a fair amount back, Jordan once again pulled her belly skin up in a bunch on either side of the door, forming a slide-like slope down to the bottom of the concrete steps. Kerry gawked at the mound of flesh rising above him to his side, smushed against the ceiling. "Anytime," said Jordan in a clipped voice.

"Oh! Sorry!" replied Kerry, crawling to the front of the skin slide as quickly as they could. "Does it hurt to do that?"

"No, just takes concentration."

Kerry wanted to probe, considering how strange this whole situation was, but figured he'd have time once Jordan wasn't struggling to shape her body to free him. Lining up their feet with the slope, Kerry pushed off Jordan's top with their hands, sending them sliding down her slope to land on their feet. He hadn't gone down a slide since he was a small child and all the exhilaration was still there. They turned back around, grinning from ear to ear, watching Jordan's belly quickly fill the doorway nearly all the way up again. The sound of her skin zipping up along the doorframe gradually ascended in pitch like a slide whistle. "That was fun, darling! I'll have to see if we can fit a merry-go-round on you next." Kerry patted her wet side.

"Oh, before you close the door, quick question," Jordan called through the pounds of water and skin between her and Kerry. "How are you going to cut a hole in the ceiling?"

Kerry paused, unsure what she meant. "With a circular saw?"

"No, I mean, once you saw through it, it's gonna land on me."

"Oh! Yeah... didn't think that through...."

They both stood, or in Jordan's case laid, trying to come up with a solution. After a few seconds, Jordan piped up, "I know! Toss me some kind of pole I can use to hold up the piece of floor so it doesn't fall on me when it's cut away."

Kerry leaned forward to kiss the wall of skin before them, sending joyous shivers through it. "Great idea, Le Ventre! How about I close the door, find something pole-like, and toss it to you through the window?"

"Sounds like a plan, honey!"

As soon as Kerry grabbed the doorknob, however, he frowned. "If your belly's sticking out from the door a little, isn't it gonna hurt when I close the door?"

"I wouldn't think so. I mean, it didn't hurt when it first started growing against there. And it's not gonna puncture me or anything."

"All right. Just tell me if it hurts."

Kerry tried to close the door, but with a few inches to go, the doorknob came up against Jordan's belly and wouldn't go further. She felt this and called down, "Just slam it. It'll be fine."

"If you're sure...," they replied, pulling the door back and not quite slamming it, being a bit more cautious than Jordan, but pushing it hard enough that in normal circumstances, it'd seem like they meant business. As soon as the door closed, Kerry heard the water inside Jordan move and a faint "OOH!" "Are you OK, darling?" Kerry yelled toward the open window.

"Yep! Yep! That just felt... interesting. It sent some ripples through me. Mmm...," she responded, the faint vibration heard through the basement ceiling indicating how very interesting the sensation had been.

When Kerry returned from inside with a metal curtain rod, he turned the corner to find an arm sticking out of the open basement window, hand outstretched as if waiting for something. They chuckled, knelt down, and handed the curtain rod to the open hand. It jerked slightly upon touching the rod. "Oh! Didn't hear you coming!" yelled Jordan from her perch on her belly.

"You didn't wanna crawl over here like you did at Flora's?"

"Are you kidding? The water in me's all nice and cool further inside. Since the window's been open, that part of me's much warmer."

With that, the arm slowly zipped its way back inside the basement and across Jordan's top like a shark fin in the ocean, carrying the curtain rod with it. Kerry peered in, their mouth gaping. "You're gonna come up with some new thing every day, huh?"

"I'm very versatile, Kerry," Jordan responded, grabbing the rod from her third hand and sucking it back into her belly. 

"That you are, darling! I'll see you topside! Oh, and once I start cutting, close your eyes and look down. I only have 1 set of safety glasses and there's gonna be some sawdust."

As Kerry stood up and walked inside to the sun room, Jordan grabbed the curtain rod by her side and tried to push it against the ceiling not too high above her. She ran into a problem: the curtain rod was much longer than the foot or so of space between her and the ceiling. She could touch it to the ceiling at an acute angle, but it needed to be straight or else Kerry would cut it at some point. Jordan pouted and pushed harder and harder, dragging the other end of the rod along her top, sending it further and further into her flesh. By the time she managed to get it straight under the center of the area Kerry was going to cut, it was jammed a foot deep into Jordan's belly with a circular indentation a few inches wide around it. She'd unconsciously softened her skin there to allow the rod to delve into her harmlessly, leaving the area a bit tender, but not painful.

When Kerry got to the sun room, he plugged in the circular saw he'd brought in there for this very occasion. Putting on their safety goggles, they knelt down to the spot they'd already marked to start cutting and began the work of sawing through the floor to the basement beneath. Jordan looked down to her belly, smiling at the sunlight streaming through the lines forming in the ceiling. She was a little annoyed at the sawdust revealed by said sunlight, thinking she'd have to remind Kerry to bring a small cordless vacuum to clean her off at some point. Still, this meant she'd be able to enjoy her time stuffed in Kerry's basement while they rested comfortably in their house. 

As soon as Kerry's saw reached the end of the fourth line cut in the floor, the pressure of the curtain rod crammed against the wood sent the piece of floor flying up with one side of it hitting Kerry square in the testicles before falling back down to hit the rod again. It finally landed on its side to Jordan's left side. As tough as her belly skin was, she had to admit it smarted a bit, but she was worried about Kerry. "KERRY! Are you OK?!"

Kerry had knelt down to the side of the hole, grasping their nuts through their pants and trying not to vomit. "Fine," he managed to cough out in a strained voice. Kerry looked down to see the hole was empty and put 2 and 2 together. "Are YOU OK?" he asked, wanting to crawl over enough to look down, but knowing that wasn't possible at the moment.

"Yes, yes, it's fine! Maybe got a splinter," Jordan replied, looking down where the ceiling/floor had hit her. It was slightly red with a couple tiny dots that looked suspiciously like splinters. "I'm sorry! The curtain rod was really stuck between me and the ceiling! Are you bleeding? Do you need help?"

Kerry was now on their side, trying to even out their breathing. He looked down to his pants, seeing they were still intact, so he assumed he wasn't bleeding. "No, just... got hit in the balls."

Jordan gasped. "Oh, darling, I'm so sorry! I'm stupid! I-"

"Jordan," Kerry cut her off, draping their left hand down the new hole in their sun room. Jordan reached up to grab it, rubbing her thumb against his palm soothingly. "I know you didn't mean to. Just give me a minute and I'll be good."

After a few quiet minutes laying there, holding each other's hand, Kerry stood up and unplugged the circular saw, then took off his goggles. "Do you want me to go down and get the wood off of you?"

"Meh, it's fine where it is for now."

"Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to go meet with 1 of the contractors at the shop to see what their estimate is for fixing it up."

"Of course!" Jordan replied. "And, well, you know where I'll be. Right. Here!" she said, slapping her giant belly twice for emphasis. 

Kerry smiled and knelt down, then lightly smacked the same spot before leaning further down. They kissed between the floors of their house and giggled at the absurdity of it all. As Kerry got up and walked to their bedroom, Jordan sighed contently, wondering how she was so blessed to have such a wonderful partner and literally impossible body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why must I keep injuring these people? I don't know. Mostly, I just didn't see a way of cutting the hole in the floor with Jordan there without someone getting hurt.


	32. Movin' on Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan outgrows her living space.

Jordan spent a couple hours content with playing games on her phone and checking emails before she realized the main drawback of her current position in the basement: the view. Her own magnificent belly sprawling across the basement was beautiful to be certain, but sometimes she wanted to look at other things. She briefly considered asking Kerry to pick up some decor to hang up in her new dwelling, but she realized there wasn't enough space to hang up much at all. Plus, while Kerry could peek down to hold hands or give her a quick smooch, doing anything else would be challenging at best unless he ventured through the window. Jordan was sure they didn't want to get on their hands and knees every time the two wanted to snuggle or more. Besides, while Jordan was comfortably cool with gallons of water gently swishing inside her, the basement was probably stuffy and a little cramped for Kerry's liking.

And so, Jordan set about remedying the situation.

Kerry had thoughtfully cut the hole in the floor to be wide and long enough to fit Jordan's main body and then some. Surely, it wouldn't take much more water to get her up and through the hole. Now came the tricky part: how would she get the hose back and turn it on? She considered growing a couple extra arms and sending them out the window the short distance to the hose, then pulling it over to herself and drinking deeply; however, once she started growing through the hole, the hose would get stuck between her increasing belly and the floor, which didn't sound comfortable. Instead, she looked up and realized she needed to bring the primary part of her directly to the spigot.

Jordan raised her hand up to the lip of the hole and pulled while simultaneously planting her feet against her belly. Telling her body she needed to get up, it acquiesced and let the extension between her main body and her belly stretch, subsequently allowing her to stand up. The piece of skin connecting her belly to her body looked like a huge, skin-toned tissue pulled up from its center. From there, she merely stepped up into the sun room, her connector trailing back down to her voluminous belly below. Much like her earlier escapades in town, she felt a bit sad leaving her belly behind, but this time, she knew she'd be right back.

The way she was connected to her mass meant Jordan had to walk backwards toward the door leading to the backyard. Mercifully, it was unlocked. Turning toward the spigot proved an interesting sensation, as it made her connector stretch against the open door, forming an angle. It wasn't an especially pleasant feeling, but it was curious enough to be mentally filed under Things I Never Thought I'd Feel, which had quickly filled up in the past week or so. Upon reaching the hose, Jordan frowned. She would have to turn on the hose before returning to her original perch upon her belly, but she figured Kerry would be none too pleased to have to mop up water from the sun room. Her frown was soon turned upside down, however, as she determined she could simply place the hose in her mouth, turn it on, and walk back. As soon as Jordan placed the hose down her throat and started the flow, she felt the cool, refreshing water trickle down her connector to where it hovered slightly over the ground, slowly making its way along the path of least resistance to her awaiting bulk. From within the basement and along her connector, a shiver of mirth echoed.

Jordan started to walk back, but was too caught up to realize her connector simply sank to the ground as she got closer to the door. She was slightly alarmed at first, then remembered she needed to tell her body want she needed to do. She was going back to her belly, so all this extra connector needed to go away. Of course, her body took this command to heart more quickly than she'd anticipated. The resulting tug as her skin receded into itself sent her running after her own connector like someone being dragged behind a car. Jordan didn't even get to close the door behind her as she was yanked down onto her belly once more. She felt and heard the hose plop down into the water inside her basement-sized mass. 

As was the pattern, Jordan hadn't really considered the ramifications of growing enough to push her belly out of the hole. Namely, in order to do so, her belly needed to outgrow the basement. For a split second, she almost considered the unthinkable: removing the hose from her mouth. Then, Jordan decided that was just silly. The basement was underground, so her mass wasn't nearly powerful enough to blast the cinder block walls apart or even buckle the wood and metal making up the basement ceiling. Still, as her belly grew and grew, the metal brackets between the floor joists began to press firmly into her skin. It reminded her of the pool chair stuck beneath her belly a few hours on her first day with her gigantic new body; it wasn't the best feeling in the world. But in this case, it was a necessary discomfort to achieve her goal of emerging from the basement. 

Finally, once Jordan felt the entirety of the basement around her form, her belly had nowhere to go but up. And so it did. The floor of the sun room/ceiling of the basement was only a couple inches thick, comprised of plywood, subfloor, and parquet flooring. It only took a minute or so for Jordan's skin to grow up out of its flat top and into this tiny protuberance, but the feeling was exquisite. It was like getting a nice scratch in a circle around her skin. The slightly gritty wood pressed against her form and contained her until she outgrew even this.

When the section of Jordan's top on which her main body was situated reached ground level, her skin began to pool out of the hole, trailing along the floor. She was treated to the unique sound of skin being slid against the floor; a sound she hadn't been treated to considering her previous arenas. She wanted to continue to spread across the sun room til there was a fine layer of her coating it, but she knew Kerry wouldn't be thrilled. Plus, while being walked on as a huge, bulbous belly was no problem and felt like a gentle massage, she figured the weight of an adult on a thin layer of her skin wouldn't feel quite as amazing. 

Naturally, Jordan hadn't thought about the fact she'd now have to chuck the still running hose out of her mouth and, hopefully, out the open door to the grass. It was an acceptable sacrifice, as the only alternative was continuing to grow unabated until Kerry's well ran dry or they came home to find her filling their entire house. Grasping the hose from her throat, Jordan threw it toward the door with all her might. She managed to get it outside and pointing away from the house. She made a mental note to apologize to Kerry for the small amount of water he'd need to clean up and remind him to turn off the spigot outside. As delightful as her new size felt, she didn't even consider for a moment venturing outside again to turn it off herself.

Curious, Jordan looked down at the parquet flooring below her and knocked on it. Sure enough, she could faintly feel her knocking vibrate the section of her belly immediately below it. She lovingly traced her fingers along the edge of her form, careful not to nick herself against the rough edge of the flooring containing her. While Jordan still loved being round in the long-term, she had to admit the notion that there were layers to her, that most of her could be hidden away in an entire room with enough of her to spare to peek out of another, was delightful. 

Soon enough, Jordan heard as well as felt Kerry open the front door. As they shut the door, she felt the vibrations run down to her back section, and as they walked over to put down their keys and bag, she could tell exactly where they were from the feeling of their footsteps through the floor. Naturally, he didn't say anything as he assumed Jordan was still fully down in the basement. From the sun room, Jordan called, "Hello!"

Kerry's eyes bugged out. He turned toward the direction of Jordan's voice and tilted his head. "Hi...?"

"Come here, darling!"

Cautiously, Kerry walked to the sun room. They figured Jordan had somehow grown tired of the basement and drained herself to chill in the sun room, or perhaps there had been some new, pressing issue that sent her detaching herself from her belly once more. He hoped that wasn't the case. Flora already had a giant, displaced belly to contend with in her yard; such a waterlogged body part taking up his basement would be even more difficult to handle. When Kerry reached the sun room, they gasped and rushed to Jordan's side. She was facing away from the door into the sun room, her legs crossed and her head resting on her hand contentedly, turned as much as she could toward the entrance. 

"Jordan! Are you OK? What happened?!"

"Of course I'm OK! Just grew a little is all."

Kerry looked down to the few inches of puffed up skin draped over the edge of the hole. "But why? You weren't big enough before?"

"There's always room for more. Plus, it was a little hard to kiss or hold you down in the basement even with the hole. This way, I'm more... accessible."

Kerry's face softened a bit as he lifted up the skin around the edge and looked at where it connected to Jordan's larger mass below. "I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but doesn't that hurt?"

"No. I mean, the metal and wood in the basement ceiling pushing against me doesn't feel amazing, but I can deal til we're set up in the butcher shop."

"That's gonna be another 2 months or so, Le Ventre."

Jordan sighed and laid her head down on the top-tier of her belly upon which she sat. "I wish it was sooner so I could get bigger, but I can manage til then. Oh, does that mean we've got a contractor?"

Kerry grinned. "Yep! Paul actually texted me the name of a contractor he's heard good things about. I met with him at the shop, and he's gonna come up with a plan for everything. Based on what he said, I think he gets what we want with the space."

Jordan giggled. "Well, I have a feeling he doesn't know exactly what we want to do with the space."

Kerry grabbed Jordan's hand and kissed it. "You're probably right. I meant more in terms of paint and moving things out." They laid their head down on Jordan's much smaller top, right next to her shoulder, and looked up at her. "I can't believe we're doing this!"

Jordan wrapped her arm around his shoulders and kissed the top of his head. "Same here, darling."


End file.
